Continental Trips and DVD's Don't Mix
by Gil-galad's Dragon Warrior
Summary: Two femals from our world fall into an unknown world, well at least to one of them... but they don't fall in it alone. That's right, the Ronins and Warlords fall with them. Read about their struggles to get to where they rightfully belong. It's funny, It'
1. Introduction

Disclaimer. I don't own Ronin Warriors _or_ Naruto… CALE!

Cale: I know you are happy to see me, but that doesn't mean you have to yell at everyone that is reading this. They are going to run in fear…

GDW: Naw… This is a weird story, and a lot of people are attracted to weird stories! They are going to like this!

Cale: Why is it that you just had to think of something like this? You always think of the weird things. I mean, the Ronin Warriors, me, and the other Warlords in the Naruto realm?

GWD: Don't forget the other two that join you. I mean, that just adds to it!

Cale: Yes, who could forget those two? But, well… Just read it…

A/N: Alright, as Cale stated, this is weird. I mean, I just had this stupid idea when I was watching Ronin Warriors after renting it from Netflix. My friend was texting me about Naruto, and well, the mix is as follows… But this story is about two girls from our time falling into the Naruto world, but they don't fall alone. The Ronins and Warlords end up with them. It's a hoot! I love it!

_**Continental Trips and DVDs Don't Mix  
**_

_**Prologue**_

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No…"  
"Are we there yet?"

"NO! Now stop asking me that fucking question you pipsqueak! Don't you understand the word no? We just got onto the plane. It will take us at least sixteen hours to make it to New Zealand, got it?" An eighteen year old sighed, putting her hand over her face. "Why, oh why merciful gods, did I have to be the one stuck taking her? Why did Uncle Tom dutifully say that it would be a wonderful and educational trip to New Zealand, free of charge, as long as you take your cousin and watch her?"

"Because you loooovvvveee me…" A small voice from beside her brought her attention there. A girl the age of six was sitting there, messing with her seatbelt, "Hey, how does this thing truly work? I never did understand it…"

The eighteen year old smirked, quickly buckling the six year old in the seat, "This is how they work, and if you unbuckle it, your seat will explode and you will be sent flying to your death, do you want that?" At the girl's wide eyes and shake of her head, she nodded, "Good, Spoons, now why don't you watch your precious Naruto shows that I have downloaded onto your computer for you…"

"Oh! Oh! The Sasuke episodes!" The girl's cerulean blue eyes shinned as she quickly fumbled with the laptop that sat on her lap. She then looked at the eighteen year old, "Uh, Cooper, could you help me?"

Cooper sighed, taking the laptop and quickly bringing up an episode, "Here…"

Spoons frowned, pouting out her lip, "I don't like this episode, the bunny gets scared…"

Cooper sighed, clicking on a different episode, "There, how about this one?"

Spoons giggled, taking the laptop from Cooper's grip, nodding, "I like this one!" She then quickly put her headphones into the computer and kept her attention on the screen.

Cooper sighed, pulling her laptop onto her lap and clicking on one of the minimized windows, smiling as Microsoft Word came up with things typed up. She hated herself for working on her vacation, but she needed to type up her notes for World History I before she got back or her professor was going to kill her and dock points off her final grade.

Spoons leaned over, talking rather loudly because of her headphones that were still in her ears, "Hey! You told me no work! You said you were going to have fun!"

Cooper sighed, quickly saving her work and then closing the window out, "What are you talking about? I wasn't working! I was just checking an email…" Spoons eyed her, and she shrugged, "Alright, alright, would it make you feel any better if I watched Ronin Warriors as I promised I would?" Spoons nodded, and she shook her head, pulling up another one of the minimized windows, smiling as the faces of the Ronin Warriors greeted her, "You all were always my hero…"

"And your obsession with Sage!" Spoons giggled.

Cooper glared at her, pointing, "Watch your own!" She then put her headphones on and into her computer, sighing in content as she started her DVD of them. Two hours later, after switching out DVDs and loving every second of the episodes, she felt something tip against her arm. She turned and smiled lightly, seeing her younger cousin asleep, leaning against her arm.

The girl had fallen asleep watching Naruto. Cooper quickly took her headphones out of her ears and paused the show. She then minimized the window and packed her laptop up, laughing lightly to herself as she felt the bag moving lightly. She knew what was contained in the bag, and knew that her cousin could never be separated from the small ferret and fox that were hiding in there. She then placed the backpack containing the laptop on Spoons' lap, only to have the girl grab it possessively.

Cooper sighed, turning back to her own movie. A smile appeared on her face as she noticed what episode it was. She admitted to herself that she never watched the DVDs in order, a habit that she had picked up from her dad before he died. Whenever asked why, she would reply that she had already seen the episodes in order, and knew what was going to happen. At least this way she could continue to guess, and it helped fuel her mind.

Cooper was a writer. Yes, she was in college, but already had four best selling books for young adults her age. And she thanked the Ronin Warriors and the Warlords for their contributions. They fueled her mind into thinking different thoughts about different turns, and her cousin sleeping beside her loved her for that.

The episode that was paused was actually the first episode of the series, one of her favorites on how it was executed. She loved the entrance of the other Ronins, how they all seemed to jump from the roofs, seemingly _not_ dropping to their doom, but hey, who was complaining. She always loved Sage's entrances, they always seemed to enthrall her to no extent. Yes, she did have an obsession with Sage, her main character in her novels was based off of him, along with his twin, who was based off of Cale, another one she had an obsession with.

As the stewardess passed her, she smiled and waved a hand, getting her attention. "Uh, excuse me, and I am sorry to interrupt you, but could you possibly bring me a water and a coke for my cousin?"

The stewardess smiled politely at her, "You are not interrupting me at all, and you are so well mannered. Yes, of course I can bring you your water and a coke for your cousin. I will be right back."

Cooper started her DVD once again, sighing in content as Sage made his comments along the lines of the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It ceased to make her smile as he seemed to say something like that always.

She thanked the stewardess as she was given her water and the coke for her cousin. She then opened her water and took a sip, suddenly feeling tired. Of course, she could understand why she was tired. She had spent the last three weeks barely getting any sleep, and watching over her cousin as her uncle went on a business trip with her aunt.

She quickly packed up her laptop and DVDs, being very gently with them all. She then leaned her seat back and cradled her backpack closer to herself, falling asleep, without the knowledge of doing it. The sound of the captain coming over the announcement system barely registered in her mind.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As she awoke, voices filtered through her mind, familiar voices. She moaned and draped an arm over her face, "Spoons, leave me alone. Wake me when the plane lands…"

"Do any of you have any clue where we are?"

"No, I was hoping you might, Rowen."

"Hey, no one look at me, guys, I was training!"

"Guys, I'm hungry, does anyone have any food?"

"Would you try and keep it down? She is sleeping…"

"Well good, let's wake her up and ask her if she knows where we are…"

Cooper's eyes shot open, and she quickly sat up, looking around wildly. As she saw she wasn't on the plane, she looked at the five figures around her, "Alright, if you plan on getting any ransom, you have another thing coming… I have no family…." Her eyes went wide at the sight before her. The one closest to her was the victim of her hands roaming over his face and chest, "No, this can't be… It's that water. I knew they put something in the water, oh no, no, no…"

She pulled away, trying to get her mind back, "Blond hair over the right eye, beautiful blue left one… Green and white sub armor… The way he talks…" Her eyes went even wider, and she pulled her hair, "Sage, this can't be! He can't be sitting right in front of me, regarding me with a face that is practically wants to know how I know him…" She shook her head, looking at the others around her, "Red and white sub armor, long unruly black hair, tiger blue eyes… Ryo. Blue hair," she started mumbling, "Spoons' favorite character," she then spoke clearly again, "blue and white sub armor… Rowen…"

"Are you alright?" The 'Sage' look alike asked, reaching for her.

Cooper scooted away from them, "Alright, what is going on? Who are you?" She then gasped, looking around, "My little cousin, where is she?"

"Easy, easy…" the 'Ryo' look alike stated, putting both of his hands forward in peace.

"No, no, no!" Cooper mumbled, searching frantically around herself, "She is the only thing I had left… She was part of my inspiration!"

"I'm Sage Date," Sage stated, trying to settle her down. He then nodded to the blue haired one, "This is Rowen." He indicated the one Cooper had though was Ryo, "This is Ryo…"

Cooper pointed shakily at another, "Let me guess, this is Cye…" At his nod, she turned to the last one, "And that would mean you are Kento." She started to hyperventilate, "I can't believe this is happening to me, I just can't believe this…"

"Cooper!" A sob brought her back into her right mind. She looked around desperately, trying to locate the owner of the sob. "Cooper!"

"Spoons!" Cooper yelled, her emerald eyes narrowing, "Where are you?" She quickly stood, stumbling as her legs were wobbly, "Spoons!"

Something white whizzed on the ground past them and then curved back crawling up Cooper's leg. She quickly grabbed the thing as it got to her waist. A sigh came from her mouth, "Tinkerbell, where is she you little furry ferret? Huh? You can tell me…"

The ferret squeaked before jumping out of Cooper's hands. It then ran off into the forest, Cooper trailing behind it, the others behind her. Cooper skidded to a halt as she came into a clearing, the sight before her causing her to want to hyperventilate once again.

Spoons was still in her plane seat, buckled up. She was swatting away a hand from someone that was trying help her, "No! Go away! I don't wanna go with you! Leave me alone!"

"But it is dangerous up here…" The figure started.

Spoons screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the figure to pull away from her, trying to shield their ears. Cooper laughed at that, finding humor in all of this, "You don't want to try that again, she will definitely blow your eardrum." As the figure looked down at her, she nodded, "Trust me, it happened to a stranger."

Spoons smiled, her tears stopping as she saw her older cousin, "Cooper!" Her smile grew even more as the others appeared behind her. She pointed, "Oooohhhhhh… is that who I think it is, Cooper? Is it? Is it? Is it?"

Cooper sighed, nodding her head, "Yes, Spoons, and is that person who I think it is?"

Spoons looked at the person that had tried to help her, nodding, "Yup, it's Kakashi…"

Cooper came forward some, "Spoons, I want you to unbuckle, understand? Then you can either fall and we will catch you, or you can grab a limb, alright?"

Spoons shook her head, "No!"

"Spoons, unbuckle," Cooper mumbled.

"No!" Spoons repeated, squeezing her eyes shut. "I like it up here, I think I am fine…"

Cooper sighed, turning back to the Ronin Warriors behind her, "I never thought I would be asking you five, of all people, for a favor." She put her hands together as if in prayer, "Rowen, please, please, can you get underneath her? She would trust you, of all of the Ronins, to catch her. Maybe then she would unbuckle her seatbelt…"

She then turned back to look at Spoons, smiling lightly as Rowen came forward. _Idiot._ Her mind laughed horribly at him, pointing evilly. She the laughed lightly, "Spoons, you know that if you stay up there, your seat is going to fall from the tree and kill you, right?"

Spoons screamed at that, desperately trying to undo her seatbelt, "Cooper, Cooper, it won't undo!" Tears came to her eyes, "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

Cooper put her hand up to cover her face, trying to mask her embarrassment, "Spoons, you see that button that says push? Well, push it…"

Spoons did as she was told, "Now what?"

"Pull the two pieces apart, pipsqueak!" Cooper sighed, rolling her eyes as her cousin did as she was told.

A smile came to Spoons' face as the seatbelt undid and let her go, "I did it! I did…" She screamed as she started to fall.

Cooper had moments of doubt as she looked from the falling form of her younger cousin to Rowen, her supposed rescuer. She bit her lip, "Uh, please merciful gods, please, let him catch her… let someone catch her…"

Spoons screaming voice died and turned to laughter. Cooper opened her eyes, not realizing that she had closed them. Spoons was on the ground, a boy about her age beside her. Rowen was standing in his place, looking confused.

Spoons latched onto the boy beside her, causing him to try and pull away from her, "Cooper! Cooper! Look! It's Sasuke! It's really him!" She squealed in joy, "Oh yay! I actually get to meet the awesome Uchiha that can do anything he puts his mind to!"

Cooper moaned, slapping her face with her hand, hating her cousin at the moment. As Kakashi came towards her, the Ronin Warriors came forward as well, their muscles readying for a battle. Cooper wanted to whoop in joy. The Ronins actually trying to defend her from someone they thought was evil.

"Alright, alright, I have a confession to make…" Cooper mumbled, causing everyone to look at her, excluding her cousin and Sasuke. "That, that thing…" She pointed at her cousin, "I don't know where it came from. I am desperately not related to it. We just met on the plane ride. She is definitely not my cousin!"

Spoons whistled lightly, causing two different pitched squeaks to answer. One was the ferret's, and the other appeared to be a small fox's. Both ran over towards her, and Spoons giggled, "Tinkerbelle one, Tinkerbelle two, look! Look! It's our favorite person in the entire world, other than Rowen!"

Cooper collapsed backwards, only to be caught by Sage. She smiled her thanks, "Aren't you the gentleman, thank you." She then nodded, "I always wanted to see if you would do that, but I didn't mean to do that one." She then sighed, "Thank the merciful gods that she is still in one piece and not all over the forest floor!"

Kakashi watched her closely, "What is your group doing here?"

"_My_ group?" Cooper glared at him, "_Oh_, so you think this was all my fault?" She cracked her knuckles, taking a step forward, "Why is it men always have to blame _me_ for something like this?" She pointed at him, "Alright, I'll admit, so I was going on vacation to New Zealand! That doesn't mean that it was all my fault! My uncle booked the plane!" She then rolled her eyes, "See if I ever get a genius thought about you in one of my novels!"

Spoons skipped over to her, "Cooper, Cooper, can you believe where we are? Huh? Huh?"

Cooper glared down at her cousin, "He thinks it was my fault, Spoons…"  
Spoons giggled, poking Kakashi, "Well, he is stupid…"

Kakashi glared at her with his one visible eye, causing Cooper to sigh, "I wouldn't be talking, Spoons, you couldn't even undo your seatbelt to get out of the seat…"

"Freakin' idiot," Sasuke mumbled in the background.

Spoons crossed her arms over her chest, sniffling lightly, "I am not a freakin' idiot!" She looked at Rowen, "I'm not, am I?"

Ryo came forward, "Wait, wait…" As everyone looked at him, he cleared his throat, "How is it you know about us, but we don't know you?"

Cooper smiled at that, pulling her backpack off of her back, setting it down on the ground and pulling out her laptop, the DVDs as well. She then nodded to Spoons, "You get yours ready, I think we will have to explain the same question to the others after this…"

Spoons nodded and ran over to her discarded backpack and pulling out her laptop. "Alright."

Cooper maximized the window that was playing the Ronin Warriors episodes. She smiled sheepishly as she noticed that it was paused on Sage's upside down form, "Uh, sorry, I paused it so I wouldn't miss anything." She then pressed play, watching in fascination as the Ronins watched the screen closely, mumbling amongst themselves. Cooper then paused it once again, not failing to notice that she had paused it on Sage once again, "Look familiar?"

"That was our first battle together," Cye mumbled, looking at Cooper, "but…"

"You see, um… I don't really know how to explain this to you, but in my cousin's and my world, you are only a show, even though I always thought of you more than that…" She smiled, "Everything of your battle with Talpa was a show, but I bet a lot of it I don't know about." Copper mumbled, blushing deeply as all five of them watched her closely. "You were all my heroes, ever since my father bought me the DVDs to watch you and then died. I relied on all of you to keep me going." She laughed lightly, "And it did wonders for me too. I have four novels that are best sellers, and I am working on my fifth one in an installment of twenty."

Spoons bounded over to them, her laptop in her hands, "My turn! My turn!" She set her laptop down, "Alright, Cooper, show them!"

Cooper sighed, rolling her eyes, "Here, Kakashi, this might explain a little for you on what _my_ group is doing here… maybe…" She hit the start button, and the episode of Naruto started. Cooper's eyes went wide something within her telling her to stop it and put a different one on. She quickly went with her gut feeling, stopping it and starting a different one.

She laughed nervously as the episode started, only to show Kakashi testing Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. Sasuke came closer, watching closely. Kakashi leaned even closer to Cooper, causing the eighteen year old to narrow her eyes. She never did like anyone invading her personal space, and that also went for the ninja that was doing it at the moment.

Spoons giggled lightly as she watched Cooper clenching her fists even tighter. She plopped herself down between Sage and Ryo, smiling up at them as both looked down at her. She then whispered, "Does anyone want to take any bets on how long Cooper keeps her anger in check?" Both looked at her like she was insane, which if her cousin had been watching, would have agreed with them. She then shrugged, "I'd say that within the next two minutes she shouts at him for invading her personal space…" She then looked specifically at Sage, "Although I bet if you were to try it she wouldn't care one bit…" She giggled, lowering her voice even more, causing the bearer of Halo to lean towards her to hear, "She has a crush on you. In fact, one of the two main characters in her books are based solely off of you…" She giggled once again, causing Sage to smile down at the little girl.

Cooper growled, "I'll give you to the count of five to back away from me and out of my personal space." When Kakashi didn't move an inch, Cooper slammed her body backwards, slamming it into Kakashi and causing him to tumble back. She then stood, moving away from the laptop, stretching, "Spoons…"

"Can we go home now?" Spoons asked her older cousin, smiling.

"Spoons, I do not know how we got here, and I have no clue if we will be able to get back," Cooper sighed. She then added, more to herself, "And I really don't know if I want to go back. I finally have them…"

Spoons pointed at her, glaring, "No you don't! Cale isn't here!" Cooper blushed lightly at her cousin, and Spoons smiled, "But once he shows up you will have everyone…"

"They won't show up, Spoons," Cooper growled, walking towards the Ronins.

"Well, if you are going to be negative as you always are, then no, they won't!" Spoons started. She then screamed as Cooper cracked her knuckles right in front of her, "My tree! I'm going to live in the tree!"

She then ran off, leaving Cooper standing there, a dazed expression on her face. As Sage and Ryo stood, she shook herself out of her daze, "Spoons?" She spun desperately around, "Spoons!"

Her eyes narrowed as they landed on Kakashi and Sasuke, who were still watching the laptop. A hand landed on her shoulder, and it turned out to be the leader of the Ronins, "If we help you find her, will you tell us what is really going on?"

Cooper's eyes narrowed even more at that statement, "You think I have a clue as to what is going on? Why is it _everyone_ thinks that I know what is going on?" She then sighed, "But if you help me I will try and explain what is going on. I am in the same boat as you are. Rowen probably has more of an idea than I would…"

Rowen perked up at that, "Really?"

Cooper rolled her eyes, "You are a genius, Rowen, jeez!" She then looked around the clearing, "Spoons! Where are you?"

"You'll never find my tree!" Spoons' voice laughed from her left, causing Cooper to smile.

"Thanks, Spoons, I know where you are now!" Cooper laughed, shaking her head. She then looked at Ryo, "Alright, here is your chance to help me, Ryo." She pointed at the tree that Spoon's voice came from, "Take Rowen and go get her. I'll stay here and try to explain things to the almighty one here." She indicated Kakashi with her head, "I need to take his pride down a couple of notches."

As the two Ronins disappeared, Cooper walked over to Kakashi and Sasuke, glaring at them. Her glare softened as she remembered that Sasuke was only six, much like her cousin. She flicked his forehead lightly, smiling as she knelt down to his level, "So, what do you think?"

He turned away from her, putting a hand over the offended area, and Cooper then realized that she had done something Itachi had always done. She put her hand on his head, "You know, I think my cousin likes you, how about that? You can have a friend, and she won't be like all those other people, trust me." She then looked up at Kakashi, "Can you take all of us to see the Third? I mean, after my cousin gets back with the other two…" She then turned to look at Sage, "Hey Sage…" He took a step towards her, "Do you think that you can help me get the nerve to actually talk to him?" She blushed lightly, "I mean…"

"COOPER!" Spoons' voice screamed out.

Cooper at once spun in the direction it was coming from, her eyes scanning the area, "Spoons…"

"Cooper! Cooper! You wouldn't believe who it is!" Spoons yelled, dragging someone along behind her as she appeared in the clearing they were in.

Cooper's eyes went wide, trying to fathom words as Spoons halted in front of her, swinging the person's arm back and forth as she wouldn't let them go. "Sp-Spoons…" Cooper stuttered, looking up at the person. She pointed, "No, it couldn't be…"

Spoons giggled as she nodded, jumping up and down, "Yup, yup! Ryo and Rowen are bringing the others now! I wanted to come ahead of them!" She then poked the person, "It's Cale! Cale is here for you!"

Cale, as he was now known, glared down at the little girl, "I still do not understand where I am, and those Ronin brats wouldn't answer my questions…"

"That's because they have no clue where we are," Cooper answered him easily, pulling her cousin away from the Warlord. She then placed her hand out, "The name's Cooper, and it's great to meet you, Cale, Warlord of Corruption!"

Cale looked from her hand to Sage, "Halo, I should have known you would have been here as well…"

Cooper shook her head, walking between the two, "Easy! Easy! Don't be going and fighting! You don't want to hurt anyone around here, do you? Talpa is destroyed! You don't need to fight anymore, and I actually get to see both of you in person!"

Spoons crossed her arms over her chest, "I like Sekky better!" As Cale looked down on her, she stuck her tongue out, "He isn't as scary!"

Cooper moaned, "Yeah, he just has venom on his swords and an addiction to snakes, nothing big, Spoons!"

At the moment she wanted to squeal with joy and grab both of them, hauling them off somewhere to talk and discuss things with both of them, but knew it to be hopeless. As Ryo came back with Rowen, Sekhmet, and Dais, Spoons ran over to Sekhmet, grabbing his hand and smiling.

"You're my favorite!" She smiled up at him, causing Rowen to look at her sadly. She then looked at Rowen, her smile brightening, "But your even more of my favorite!" She then giggled, letting Sekhmet's hand go, jumping up and down, "Piggyback ride? Please? Please?"

Cooper moaned, knowing that if her cousin wasn't killed soon enough, she would be hated, "Spoons, he is a Warlord! Like he is going to give you…" Her eyes went wide when Sekhmet actually picked up the little girl and let her have a piggyback ride. Cooper looked at Cale, "Now wait a second! I was under the impression that you all didn't care about anything! Am I wrong? Do all three of you actually have a heart?" She grabbed Sage when Cale glared at her, "Save me!" She then laughed, letting Sage go and walking over to be right in front of Cale, "Alrighty then! Do your worst, Cale! Let me see it!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what do you think? Review and tell me! I won't know if you think it's good unless you do… Oh, I know this chapter didn't have much Naruto characters in it, but hey, I like the Ronins more than I do Naruto… Oh well…

Cale: Don't forget to review…

GDW: I already told them that!

Cale: I am just trying to help you.

GDW: Oh, well, in that case, do your worst, Cale! Let me see it!


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: Once again… sadly… I don't own Ronin Warriors _or_ Naruto…

Cale: Trust her, she doesn't own us…

GDW: Even though you wish I did! **:Grabs Cale in a hug:**

Cale: Alright… Alright… Now let me go so the readers can read this story…

GDW: Fine… You take away all the run, you know that?

Cale: I have to with you. If I didn't, nothing would get done.

A/N: Well, here's the first chapter… I hope you guys are liking this story. I checked my stats, and when I did, this story had been hit 14 times… but sadly, no one reviewed… But at least _I_ like this story, so, until I don't like it, I am going to continue to write!

**_Chapter One_**

Spoons giggled and poked Sasuke, who in turn, glared at her. "You're funny, you know that?" As he glared at her even more, tears welled into her eyes, "It's not nice to be mean to people!" She sniffled, looking up at Sekhmet, who was standing right beside her, "He's being mean to me, Uncle Sekky!"

Cooper moaned from her spot, standing in front of the Third. She couldn't believe that Spoons had quickly decided that Sekhmet was to be her Uncle. The Third brought her attention back to him, though. "So you say that you are not from this world?"

Cooper sighed, holding up a finger, "Excuse me for a moment…" She then turned to look at her small cousin, "Alright, Spoons, we get it! Now please be quiet so I can explain everything to _everyone_!"

Spoons sniffled once again, but Sekhmet picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, quieting her. Cooper then smiled as she looked back at the Third, "I'm sorry sir, my cousin can be a handful sometimes…" She then nodded, "Yes, my cousin and I are not from here." She then glared at Kakashi, "And as silver hair said… _my group_ isn't from here either. In fact, we aren't even from this world." She sighed and rolled her eyes as Spoons giggling could be heard, "In my world, your world is a show that we can watch. My sister has a fascination with everything here, while I have only seen a few episodes."

She then looked at the Ronins, who had all stood together the entire time, "Now these five, plus the other three that are strewn about the room are a show in my world as well, a show that I was raised on. Their world is as real as mine and yours. So you see, we were going on vacation when something happened. I woke up to be lying beside these five." She pointed at the Ronins, "And we found my cousin up in a tree, silver hair trying to help her down."

The Third nodded, putting a hand to his chin, "And you know of no way to get back?"

Cooper glanced at her cousin quickly, noticing that Sekhmet was keeping her busy, "No, I don't know any way to get all of us back to our real worlds. You see, I don't even know how we got here in the first place." She looked at Sage, "But if there is anything that you know of, I would greatly appreciate it if you told us. I know my cousin wants to go back home…"

"No! No! I don't want to leave Uncle Sekky!" Spoons whined, wrapping her arms around Sekhmet's neck.

Cooper's eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. She then shook her head, "You little pipsqueak! Just a little while ago you were basically pleading with me to go home, now you don't want to?" Spoons nodded, and Cooper sighed, "Alright then, fine, be that way."

"Is there any way that we can go back home?" Rowen asked, taking a step forward.

The Third sighed, shaking his head, "I do not know of any way to return you back to your world. But if it makes you feel any safer, you are always welcome to stay here. We can find some housing arrangements for you…"

Cooper looked at the Ronins and the Warlords, "They have to stay together!" As Ryo opened his mouth to say something, she glared at him, "We all have to stay together!"

Spoons nodded, "I'm not leaving Uncle Sekky!" She then giggled, "And Rowen can't leave me either!"

Ryo sighed, "Fine, fine." He then looked at the Third, "If there is anything we can do to help this village, just tell us. In our world we were all warriors. We are the…"

Spoons almost screamed in joy, "They are the Ronin Warriors! Wildfire, Strata… my favorite! Hardrock, Torrent! And we can't forget Halo!" She nodded, "Who could forget Uncle Sekky and Dais, not to mention Cale!"

The Third seemed intrigued by this, "You were warriors in your world?"

Sage nodded, walking forward as well, "Yes, we bear mystical armor that protected our world from evil."

The Third smiled at that, "I might be able to find something for you all to do." He then looked at Spoons, "Now about the girl…"

Cooper looked from Spoons to the Third, "What about my cousin?"

"Would you like to enroll her in the Ninja Academy?" the Third asked.

Spoons squealed in joy, causing Sekhmet to chuckle, "Oh please! Oh please! Oh please! I wanna go to the academy!"

Cooper sighed, rubbing her temples. Sleepless nights and stress were truthfully getting to her, "Fine, fine." She then looked at the Third, "Sure, I would like to enroll her in the Academy, if that is alright with everyone."

"She can start tomorrow," the Third smiled, nodding. "Now, for housing arrangements…"

Cooper closed her eyes, sighing, "Oh thank gods! I won't have to deal with her twenty-four hours a day!"

The Third chuckled, "I happen to have one building that would house all of you…"

Spoons smiled, looking down at the small Sasuke, "Does Sasuke live near? I wanna play with him sometimes!"

"Yes, it is very near the Uchiha residence, actually," the Third nodded.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper sighed as she collapsed on the couch that was in the living room of the house that they were staying in, "Uh… I need a rest. A long rest where no one talks to me…"

"Cooper!" Spoons giggled lightly, poking her cousin into sitting up and moaning. "Cooper, I'm hungry for dinner!"

Cye had been walking through the house at that time, and he stopped and smiled, "How about I cook for everyone, eh?" He knelt down beside Spoons, "What would you like for dinner?"

Spoons smiled deviously, "Pizza! Pizza! It's Cooper's favorite!"

Cye laughed, holding out his hand, "You want to come help me?" Spoons squealed in joy and left with the Torrent bearer, readying to cook pizza for everyone.

Sage laughed as he sat down lightly beside Cooper, "Quite the energy ball, isn't she?"

"You have seen her on a mellow day, my sexy friend, trust me," Cooper moaned, not even realizing what she was truly saying.

"Sexy?" Sage asked her, smirking.

Cooper gasped as her eyes went wide, "Oh shit!" She buried her face into her hands, "Uh… sorry, it slipped, and I am so tired. I'm going off of I think a total of six hours for three weeks. This is not my idea of a great vacation, I'm telling you."

Sage shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I'm glad that you think I'm sexy. And why are you going off of so little sleep?"

Cooper looked up at him, her eyes half lidded, "Well, I have had so much to do. I'm still a college student, even though I could just decide to not go and write books, but I really want to do something with my life other than writing. And everything is due soon, and my Uncle demanded that I go on vacation… So I have my finals that I have to do, and notes to write, not to mention my books that I have to finish! Plus there is looking after my cousin and making sure that her animals are taken care of and don't die…"

"Wow, you have all of that to do?" Sage asked, surprised. "How can you do it?"

"Well, I've had to do almost everything by my self since I was little. You see, my dad died when I was young, and my mom died giving birth to me, so I was all alone. I learned to not waste time in doing stupid things like going out with friends. Oh yeah, friends, I never had any, except for my little cousin here, who at first called me Cale because I looked like him, and still sort of do. I also learned to manage my time equally. Hey, I'm going strong on close to a 4.0 GPA, I think I am doing pretty good for myself!" Cooper explained, letting her head rest on the back of the couch.

Someone sat down on the other side of her, laughing somewhat, "So, Spoons thought you looked like Cale?" Cooper looked over, only to see Sekhmet. The Warlord nodded, "Yeah, I can see it. The eyes, nose, hair. Yup. You do look like him."

Cooper held her hands up, but they quickly dropped, "No relation, I swear. But my father did want to name me Cale when I was born. He was a fan of all of you as well. And if you couldn't tell by what I just told you, Cale was his favorite, just don't tell him. He then decided Cooper was better. His best friend that had died saving him in the Navy was named Cooper." She then yawned, "Has everyone settled in? Did you guys pick your rooms yet?"

"Everyone has except you, and there is only one room left." Sage smiled at her.

Cooper grunted, looking towards the kitchen, "And let me guess, Spoons is sharing a room with either Rowen or Sekhmet, am I right?"

Sekhmet laughed, nodding, "Yeah, she dutifully told me that she was sleeping in my room with me…"

"Move her to the last available room. I'll sleep on the couch. I've found over the years that a couch is comfier than a bed would ever be for me, but that is because I lived half of my life on one." Cooper sighed. She then stretched out, leaning out on Sage, using him as a pillow, "I suggest that if you don't want to be used as a pillow you move right about now, because I know that I will be sleeping for a while, and you will be stuck."

Sekhmet at once stood, "I'll let you sleep then. Oh, and Spoons can stay in my room, I do not mind."

Sage shrugged, closing his eyes and stretching as well, "You know you have a room waiting for you with a nice big and comfy bead…"

Cooper closed her eyes, yawning, "Mmmm… but you are so comfy yourself. I don't want to leave this nice pillow behind."

Sage smirked down at that, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. He knew that he could move her up to her room, let her sleep in the bed. He also knew that he could get up and see if Ryo and the others wanted to check out the village. But he thought of a third option, something that he knew the guys would make fun of him for later on. He thought that he would just stay there, letting her use him as a pillow.

It had only taken fifteen minutes before Cooper had fallen into a deep sleep, and Sage at once took the opportunity to look her over, noticing that she did indeed look like Cale. As the thought of the Darkness Warlord entered his mind, Cale came walking into the living room, watching the two with amusement.

He sat down in the chair opposite of them, a smirk on his face, "Sekhmet told me that she does indeed resemble me in many ways, and I can actually see it. He also told me that I was her father's favorite."

Sage nodded, "Yeah, but don't let her know. She told him not to tell you." Cooper mumbled something and snuggled more into Sage's chest, sighing contentedly. He smiled down at her, "You know she could have let us fend for ourselves with explaining why we were there, but she took it in her duty to take us into her arms and make sure that we were safe…"

"I did notice that," Cale nodded, smiling faintly. "And she made sure that we all stayed together…"

"Uncle Sekky!" Spoons' voice yelled through the living room as the little girl whizzed past all of them. She then skidded to a halt, looking at Sage and Cale. She smiled, "Uncle Cale, have you seen Uncle Sekky?"

Sage would have laughed if Cooper hadn't been using him as a pillow. Cale's face was priceless. He had a confused look mingled in with a glare at the thought that the girl would label him an Uncle. "The last I saw him was heading for his room, probably to check on his swords…"

Spoons squealed in joy and grabbed Cale in a quick hug before running to the steps and disappearing up them, all the while yelling for Sekhmet. Cale's face became full of disgust, "And why does she deem it necessary to call me her Uncle? We are in no way related!"

"You remind her of my father," Cooper's soft voice was heard. Sage and Cale looked at her, only to see that she was indeed awake, stretching lightly. "She might not have ever met him, but my father was almost exactly like you, even down to your scar." She then laughed lightly, but her laughter stopped and her eyes became laced with sadness, "That's why my father wanted to call me Cale. I reminded him of you in my looks, and he acted like you. So to little Spoons, who never had the chance to meet my father, you are exactly like my father." A small smile was forced onto her face, both warriors could tell, "And I won't be surprised if she starts to call you my father as well."

Cale seemed startled for a moment, Cooper could tell. To actually hear this from someone was simply too much for him. But it could be true. Anyone that didn't know them would think that they were father and daughter. He knew, oh yes he knew, that he had aged since the Dynasty had been destroyed. And for some odd reason, it didn't truly bother him that Spoons had decided that he was an uncle, it actually made him laugh on the inside.

Cye walked out of the kitchen, smiling, "Dinner is ready." He then nodded to Cooper, who was starting to stand, "You little cousin is quite the cooker, eh?"

Well, at least that makes one of us," Cooper mumbled, blushing somewhat. "The last time I tried cooking something, I almost blew the microwave up, no lie!" She then started mumbling, "Easy Mac is evil, I swear! And for a while I thought it was a plot made by the Dynasty to somehow rule the world…" She then laughed, "Wow, too much of a fan, right here, I'm telling you!"

"How much of a fan were you?" Rowen asked as he came into the living room, joining the others.

Cooper smiled deviously at that, "I know your birthdays, blood types, little tidbit facts that would make you blush… but forget about that. All of you were my heroes, still are. And to actually have you with me makes me feel like my father is still alive. He was the one that got me started on this at a young age. For a while I was obsessed with the Ronin Warriors show, but then I got into high school, and no one knew what the show was, but I still held hope. College came, and man did I make a fool of myself during one of my World History classes…"

"What happened?" Cye asked, intrigued.

Cooper blushed, looking from one to the next, "Uh… my professor asked the class for the definition of Dynasty…"

"I think I see where this one is going," Cale murmured.

Cooper nodded, "I quickly wrote down that the Dynasty was located in the Nether Realm and that it was ruled by Talpa and Nether Spirits. It had tried to take over the world, using four innocent men as their lackeys. It had been defeated by five teenage boys with mystical armor called the Ronin Warriors. Their armors were called Wildfire, Halo, Strata, Torrent, and Hardrock." She blushed even more, "Well, he was picking people's at random, and mine actually happened to be the first one. Wow, did I feel idiotic when he started laughing uncontrollably. He then read out loud what I had written. He then said that whoever wrote it was incompetent and that they would have no future in his class. When he asked who had written it, I bravely raised my hand, replying that he must have worked for Talpa if he gave me an answer like that."

Cale's jaw dropped, "You didn't?"

Cooper smirked, "Oh I did, and well, he was pissed after that. He told me that the Ronin Warriors were just some stupid show that was too old. He never did like me after I then told him that I would bet him two hundred bucks that he was being possessed by a Nether Spirit. Let's just say I didn't fair too well in that class, and I am partially glad that I am here instead of trying to write up my notes for that class just so I don't get points docked off from my final grade."

"Why did you say that to him if we weren't real in your world?" Rowen asked, not too thrilled that Cooper would talk to a professor like that.

Cooper smiled, "With making fun of all of you and what I had written, he was making fun of my father…" Her gaze burned into him, "And no one makes fun of my father without feeling my wrath! Not even my uncle dares to say anything about him when I am around. And let's not go anywhere with his navy pals. They learned the hard way that I bite hard and take chunks out of people."

Spoons came racing down the steps, squealing with joy as Sekhmet ran after her, yelling. Cooper's eyes went wide as she saw Spoons holding one of Sekhmet's swords, "Damn!"

As she grabbed the sword out of Spoons' grip as the girl ran past her, Spoons started crying. "But! But! I got it first!"

"Do you know how dangerous his swords are, of everyone's?" Cooper yelled at her, glaring. She lightly touched the wooden table that was sitting in there, only to have it hiss and melt away from the sword, dissolving. Her eyes were hard as she looked at Spoons, "And you should never run around with a pointy object, Spoons, never!"

Spoons watched in fascination. She then shook her head, glaring at her older cousin, sticking her tongue out, "But you do it all the time! Why can't I?"

"I'm older, I've been taught, you haven't. But I am sure when you go to the Academy you will be taught. If not, one of the guys will teach you…_ with less dangerous weapons!_"

The threat was hidden in her words, but every Ronin and Warlord present understood exactly what the consequences were. Dais cleared his throat as he walked in on everyone, "What is all this yelling about?"

Cooper turned her hard gaze onto him, "Especially you, Dias! Don't you dare let her hold anything dangerous, understood?"

Dais blinked, confused at what was going on. Sekhmet nodded, "We understand, Cooper."

Spoons sniffled, "Dinner?" She then smiled, skipping towards the dining room.

Cooper shook her head, handing Sekhmet his sword back, "Put that somewhere she cannot reach, got it?" She then followed her cousin, "I will never understand her swings."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoons giggled as she sat at the dining room table, swinging her feet and waiting for everyone to get up. Cye smiled at her as he set a cup of orange juice down in front of her, "Today is your first day at the Academy…"

Spoons giggled once again, nodding, "Yup! And Uncle Sekky said he was gonna walk me!"

"Really?" Cye asked, sitting down beside her.

Spoons nodded her head, "Yup!" She then took a sip of her orange juice, "I think Cooper is going to start writing again!" She then smiled, "You should read her books, they are really good, and I have copies of them, even though I am not old enough to read them. She has copies as well!"

Cye handed her a lunchbox, smiling sweetly at her, "I made you your lunch."

As the doorbell rang, Spoons jumped up, running to it, "I got it! I got it! I got it!"

As she opened the door, her smile broadened as she saw Sasuke standing there, looking a little embarrassed. He lowered his head, "I was wondering, since we live near each other…"

Spoons pulled him inside, "Come on!" She then yelled, "Uncle Sekky! Come on! Sasuke and I are going to be late!"

Sekhmet came into the room, Cooper and Cale following him, "I know, I know… Make sure she gets there safely, try not to get lost, it's out in the open, can't miss it…" As Cale opened his mouth to say something, Sekhmet held up his kanji orb, "I've got it right here, Cale, no worries…"

Spoons ran to Cooper, grabbing her in a hug, "Bye, Cooper…"

"See ya, squirt, I guess I will come to pick you up after school, eh?" Cooper smiled, hugging her back. She then saw Sasuke, "Would Sasuke like to come over for dinner tonight? I mean, I don't think Cye would mind cooking for him, and I know the boy is alone…"

Spoons squealed in joy, nodding, "He'll be here, Cooper!" She then grabbed Cale in a hug, "Bye Uncle Cale!"

With that, she ran towards the door, stopping as she reached Sasuke. Sekhmet chuckled as he walked to the door as well, "I'll keep them safe."

Spoons looked at Sasuke, "You've gotta hug Cooper and Uncle Cale as well!" She nodded, "It's tradition!"

Sasuke looked embarrassed at that, shuffling his feet around. Cooper laughed lightly, walking forward and grabbing the small boy in a hug. She then pulled back from him, winking, "You should come over every morning to walk with Spoons. Have a good day at school, Sasuke." She then turned to Cale, nodding to him.

Cale stood where he was, calculating the small boy. When he didn't make a move at all, Cooper hit him, causing him to look at her, "What?"

Cooper indicated with her head towards Sasuke, "Go hug the boy. It'll be easier than hugging Spoons, and besides, he needs it. I'll tell you later why."

Cale sighed, awkwardly hugging Sasuke. He then pulled away, nodding to Sekhmet, "You know your mission, Sekhmet, don't fail."

Sekhmet rolled his eyes as Spoons and Sasuke grabbed his hands, "I know, Cale, I know…"

As the three left the house, Spoons giggled, "Uncle Cale is weird, but that is why Cooper loves him so much! He is her papa after all…"

Cooper moaned and slapped her face with her hand, "Didn't I tell you she would do that? I'm sorry Cale…"

Cale chuckled, startling Cooper, "It's true! Anyone other than the people living in this house will think that we are father and daughter!"

Cooper smiled lightly, looking up into his face, noticing how much of her father she _did_ see in him. She let a little laugh escape her lips before turning back towards the rest of the house. She sighed as she saw Sage entering the living room, wearing his sub armor, "I think we need to get you guys some clothes and we also need to go shopping for food for Cye…"

Sage turned to her, a smile gracing his features, "Good morning, Cooper."

Cooper smiled back at him, walking over and slinging an arm around his waist, his shoulders being too high for her, "Good morning to you as well! Oh, and just to let you know, tell everyone that we are going shopping for clothes. You can't wear your sub armor and that one pair of clothes you have for the rest of your life. Plus we have to go grocery shopping for Cye. We have to have food in the house…"

Kento came barreling into the room, "Food? Where?"

Cooper sighed, shaking her head, "And the mighty Kento has succumb to his hunger, will it ever cease to amaze me? No, by no means will it!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryo sighed, looking down at the clothes that Cooper had bought for them, courtesy of the money the Third had given her, just for her. "You know guys, she bought all of us clothes, and not one thing for her…"

Cooper came walking towards them, smiling. She was wearing a tank top with baggy black pants, "What do you think? I personally like it, well, except for the shirt, but the lady told me that I looked great in it…"

All of the Ronin's jaws dropped, and the three Warlords shook their heads. Cale smiled at her, "I think you need another shirt that covers more of your body…"

"No, no, it's perfect!" Ryo mumbled, blinking rapidly.

Dais laughed, "It seems Wildfire is smitten!"

Cooper blushed as Sage licked his lips, "Alright, I'll go try on the next thing, Ok?" They all nodded at her, and she quickly disappeared once again.

After she had gone, Kakashi came towards them from nowhere, his eye smiling. He raised his hand, "How is everyone doing?"

His hand fell limply to his side as Cooper came walking out again, twirling in her place as she was wearing a pair of short shorts and a tub top. "Well…" Her eyes went wide as she saw Kakashi standing there. "What? What are you doing here?" She quickly wrapped her arms around herself, "What do you want?"

Kakashi stared at her for a couple more minutes before shaking his head. He then cleared his throat, "Well, the Third wanted me to bring all of you to him later, and I thought I would just tell you beforehand…" He then nodded, "By the way, that looks beautiful on you, let me tell you that!"

Cale glared at him out of the corner of his eye, at once becoming protective of Cooper, "Go change into something else, Cooper, let's see what else you have."

Cooper quickly walked back into the dressing room, trying to hide her blush. Sekhmet turned to look at Kakashi, "What time?"

"Whenever you are finished," Kakashi shrugged lightly, pulling out a book.

Sage sighed, eyeing Kakashi closely, "Think again if you think you are going to have her." As Kakashi looked up at him, startled, his gaze turned hard, "We stick together, all of us Ronins and family." He nodded to Cale, "And I don't think her father would approve of you with her anyway…"

Dais seemed startled at what Sage had said, but he was even more startled as Cale nodded and agreed. The rest of the Ronins smiled, knowing that Cooper had worked her way into the Darkness Warlord's heart quickly, much like she had everyone else.

Cooper came back out, a pair of tight fitting black pants adorning her legs. She wore a small green tube top and a black and red jacket overtop of it. She smiled, spinning around, "Well, what about this one?"

Sage smiled, his demeanor changing quickly, "Perfect! I think this one is the best yet!"

Cale nodded, "I agree with Halo."

Cooper nodded, "Good, then I'll just go get some underwear and bras. Do one of you want to come with me? I know that you all can be protective…" She looked at Cale as she said this, smiling.

Cale smiled back at her, looking at Sage, "Halo, you go with her. I don't trust the other four, but I trust you with my daughter…" Not once did he falter when he said those words, causing Cooper's eyes to mist over.

Sage nodded, quickly standing and walking with Cooper to the undergarments section, letting her pick what she needed. Dais eyed Kakashi, "Why does he need to see us?"

"I do not know. He would not tell me, just that he wanted you all to see him as soon as possible," Kakashi shrugged, going back to reading his book.

Cye stood up, grabbing Kento with him, "I'll take Kento with me to go grocery shopping. We'll be back soon, alright?" As he got a nod from Cale, both disappeared.

Ryo sighed, watching as Cooper held up something for Sage to see. He then smiled as Sage seemed to blush, nodding or shaking his head. A small laugh escaped his lips, "I am never going to let this one die!" He then cleared his voice, "Give us another two hours. We still have to take all of this stuff back to the house, and Cye and Kento will be a while at the store."

Kakashi nodded, looking at Cooper as she tilted her head against Sage's shoulder, saying something as she held a pair of underwear up for him, "Alright. I'll meet you at your home." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing all five sitting there to look wide eyed.

A little while later, Sage returned with Cooper, a couple of bags in her hands. Cooper held a smirk on her face, "Complete! I am now done! Are you guys ready to go back to our new home… Wait, where are Cye and Kento?"

"Getting food," Ryo smiled.

"They'll meet us back at the house," Rowen answered, nodding.

Cooper nodded, and all of them stood up, walking out of the store and towards their new home. As everyone was ahead of her, she grabbed Cale's arm, causing him to turn back to look at her. Tears were in her eyes, and the Warlord quickly stopped, wiping the tears out of her eyes, "What is wrong, Cooper?"

"You told Kakashi that I was your daughter," Cooper replied, lowering her head. "After my father died, no one wanted me as their daughter. And yet, I just meet you yesterday, and you already think of me as your daughter!"

Cale smiled, "Well, you do look like me, and you said that I acted like your father. Why not? I feel the need to protect you from things." They started walking again, and he chuckled, "Much like Sekhmet feels the need to protect your cousin, and allows her to call him _Uncle Sekky_."

"I heard that, Cale!" Skehmet yelled back at them, causing Cooper to giggle and forget about her tears.

Cale nodded, "We do have hearts, you know that, and we are showing it. Now Dais, he will be a tough one, but he has definitely taken a liking to both of you."

"Ah, yes, the Warlord of Illusions," Cooper smiled, "he was always a tough one to understand. But that made him so much cooler in the end!" She shrugged, "He is the oldest…"

"I heard that!" Dais yelled back at them, causing Cooper to laugh uncontrollably.

"You don't look a day over four hundred and forty!" Cooper laughed, grabbing her abdomen.

Dais spun to her, a smirk placed on his face, "Is that so?" She nodded, and he shook his head, "Well then, I _am_ getting old!"

At that, Cooper fell to the ground, rolling around and laughing even more. At this action, every one of the Ronins that was present turned and walked back to her, watching her closely along with the Warlords. She gasped for air, waving her hand around, "Good one! Good one! I give Dais a point! That is Dais one, Cale zero, Sekhmet zero, Ryo zero, Sage thirty-five, Rowen zero, Cye zero, and Kento zero…"

"Why does Sage get thirty-five?" Ryo asked, not pleased that he was loosing.

Cooper smirked at Ryo and then Sage, causing him to blush and turn his face away, "Well, twenty points comes from him being so sexy. The other fifteen come from him actually sitting and living through my torture of looking through underwear and bras! Wow, I didn't think he could turn that many shades of red!" She then stood up, her face red from laughing so hard, "Oh, I haven't laughed since… Well, really since my dad died." She smiled at all of them, "Thanks, guys, I needed that so badly!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper sighed as she sat in a chair in the Hokage's office. She was bored out of her mind, and the others knew it as well. They could tell just by her actions.

"So I would like to test all of you to see how well you fight. That will tell me how much use you will be to the village fighting-wise…"

Cooper jumped at what the Third had just said, "Wait, me too?" At his nod, her eyes went wide, "Oh no, no, no, no, no! I'm not a fighter! I can barely stand up to menacing people and throw an insult! What makes you think that I am going to be able to fight?" Her eyes narrowed, "I don't like this…"

"Easy, Cooper, we'll teach you how to fight, don't worry. You already seem to know how to use a sword…" Ryo stated, referring to the Spoons with Sekhmet's sword incident.

Cooper glared at him, "Yeah, I know how to use a sword, that doesn't mean I have ever used one!" She then stood up, "I never had the money to get lessons! This is not going to work!"

"Hey, if all else fails, you can wear one of those great outfits to make the enemy falter, then we can deal the finishing blows," Kento smiled.

Cale glared at him, getting ready to hit him. Rowen did instead, "I don't think the Warlords want to put her in that type of danger, and neither does Sage…"

Cooper became pale at the thought of a battle, "When are we going to have this test?"

"Two months from now. That gives you enough time to train," the Third explained.

"Are you going to be telling us who we will be fighting against?" Cooper asked, swallowing the taste of bile in her throat.

"I won't be telling you," the Third smiled at her. "Do not worry, they will not harm you if they see you cannot fight…"

"That's not what I am afraid of," Cooper mumbled, "my pride is way too much for this, I would swing at them and then they would kill me… I don't back down, not even when the odds are stacked against me…"

"Two months," the Third repeated. "You are dismissed."

With that, everyone walked out of the Hokage's office, Cooper lowering her head and becoming greatly pale. She didn't want to battle. Her father had died in a battle, and she had been afraid of battles from then on. Arms wrapped around her waist, and she was snapped back to reality, only to realize that it was Sage.

She sighed, "I can't fight, Sage, I don't want to fight…" Tears fell down her face for the second time that day, "My dad died in a fight…"

"We'll make sure that you will win, Cooper, don't worry. We have two months to train you, and it's us that we are talking about. You know better than anyone that we can train you quickly…" Sage mumbled into her hair, ignoring the other Ronins that were watching both of them carefully.

Cooper nodded, closing her eyes, "Alright, Sage, that's twenty more points onto your score for making me feel better…"

"Hey! Not fair!" Dais mumbled as all of them walked out of the building, heading back to the house they occupied.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, there you have it. Chapter One! This time around… please review. I want to know what you guys think of this story… Do you like it, do you not like it? Give me some feedback, positive or negative, I don't care…

Cale: Well, I'm going to go watch television now, considering there are no reviews for me to read…

GDW: Aww! Come on! Aren't you going to stay here with me?

Cale: No, I think I will pass staring at the computer screen for hours on end. I'd rather take my chances with the T.V. at least it is more interesting than a computer screen. Maybe I'll send Halo in to you.

GDW: You know how to cheer me up Cale!


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: As I said… I don't own the Ronins or Naruto… But I do like to have conversations with Cale and Sage!

:Sage walks into room: Hey, Cale said…

GDW: Ah! Sage :hugs Sage:

Sage: could you let me go? I mean, I love it when you hug me, but you have a story to write, and they want to read it…

GDW: No, I don't get reviews…

Sage: Yeah, Cale was telling me that he was checking the stats for this and you had 51 hits, but no one reviewed… The least they could do was say 'hey.'

GDW: Oh well, I'm having fun!

A/N: So, do you guys like it so far? Or do you hate it?

_**Chapter Two**_

Cooper screamed in pain as Kento sent her flying into a tree, causing the tree to fall as she slammed right through it. Kento quickly jumped to her side, his eyes full of worry, "Cooper, I thought you were paying attention! Oh man, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have hit you that hard!"

Cooper bit her lip, keeping her tears at bay, "Shut up, Kento. You're making me feel like I am weak!" She stumbled to her feet, swaying greatly, "Come on!"

Kento turned to look at Ryo and Sage, who had been watching their match, "Uh guys, I don't want to do this anymore. She is no match for me, and I will end up killing her…" After he had said that, something collided with his cheek, sending him spinning around. He put a hand to the offended area, looking at an angered Cooper, "What?"

Cooper yelled at him, "Don't just brush me off like that! I'm still standing! I am not weak!"

As she lunged for him, Ryo quickly grabbed her feet, sending her spinning around and then letting her hit a tree. As she moaned and sat up, trying to decide which way was up, Ryo smirked at her, "It's my turn." He nodded, "Let's see how much you have actually learned from your training!"

Cooper shook her head, trying to clear her vision. She then pushed herself to her feet, stumbling forward as she held her fists up, "I might not be strong, and I might not fight well, but my pride won't let me back down!" She glared at him, "Come at me, Wildfire! Let me see what you can do!"

As Ryo raced towards her, she spun out of the way, narrowly missing his fist. She laughed lightly, "Hey Ryo… You're mother wears army boots!" She then laughed harder, falling on her ass.

Ryo watched her closely, noticing that she sprawled out on the grass beneath her, starting to laugh uncontrollably. She had quoted him from one of his battles. And she found it quite amusing, for some odd reason. He shook his head, watching her closely to see if she was alright.

When she didn't move an inch, but continued to laugh her head off, he walked forward, kneeling down beside her and sitting her up in a sitting position, "I think it's time we stop for now… You need a rest, Cooper."

Cooper quelled her laughter, looking into Ryo's tiger blue eyes, "Yeah, but I still can't get over how you said that to them!" She then sighed, coming down from her adrenalin rush, "Remind me never to agree to sparring against Kento again…" She whimpered as her back killed her, "I'm going to die! It's broken! I swear it is!" Tears came to her eyes, but before they could fall, she bit her lip, trying to divert her pain.

As she tried to stand, she cried out in pain and fell back to the ground, her back flaring with pain unimaginable for her. It had been three weeks of training, and Kento had made a remark about how she would never be able to beat him, and her pride had gotten in the way, once again.

Sage quickly ran to her side, helping her stand. He then looked at Ryo and Kento, "She's done for the day…" As Ryo opened his mouth to say something, Sage continued, "Would you like Cale to kill us for bringing her back like this and then having her train some more later today? Ryo, her back is destroyed! I wouldn't be surprised if there is extensive damage from that hit Kento gave her!"

"Life sucks," Cooper moaned as Sage helped her back to the house.

As they came into the living room, he eased her down onto the couch, making sure not to hit her back, "It sometimes does, Cooper, we all learned the hard way."

Sasuke came walking in from the kitchen, sitting down beside Cooper, looking up at her, "How was training?"

Cooper moaned as she glared at Sage, "Could you move him to the other chair? I'm going to lay on my stomach so my back isn't killing me?" Sasuke got up and quickly moved to the other chair, watching intently as Cooper lay down on her stomach, stretching out and wincing every now and then.

Sage smiled at her, sitting down on a section of the couch that she wasn't occupying, "Now let me check to see what is wrong with it…"

As he pulled her shirt up to check her back, he winced himself. It was already bruising, and Sage knew it must have pained her greatly. Her entire back was one big bruise, but it was to be expected when she was slammed through a tree. Sasuke leaned closer, looking over Sage's shoulder, not bothering the bearer of Halo at all, "That must hurt…"

"You have no idea, Sasuke," Cooper moaned as Sage lightly placed his hand on it. She then hissed, swatting her hand back at him, narrowly missing him, "Would you fucking stop it! That is killing me!"

Sage turned to look at Sasuke, "Why don't you go get some ice for her, Sasuke? I would greatly appreciate it…" Sasuke quickly ran back towards the kitchen, leaving the two alone.

Ever since the first time the boy came to eat dinner with them and then watched as the Ronins and Warlords had started to teach Cooper how to fight, Sasuke had almost lived at the house, becoming best friends with Spoons. The girl loved the Academy, and found that she actually excelled at everything there, including different things that involved Chakra.

Cooper closed her eyes, "Sage, how am I going to get to sleep tonight? There is no way that the pain is going to recede enough for me to even think of it…"

Sage leaned towards her face and kissed her cheek, "You'll see, don't worry…"

Cale froze mid step as he saw Cooper sprawled out on the couch, her back one big bruise, "How did this happen?"

Cooper smiled up at him. He had truly become her father in the past three weeks, and Cooper had enjoyed it. "I fell into a tree and straight through it… literally."

"Training with Kento," Sage grunted as Cooper swatted at him again as he attempted to check her back some more. "He slammed her straight through a tree, and then Ryo threw her into one…"

"I just have bad luck with the things…" Cooper sighed, closing her eyes once again, "I'm getting some rest before dinner. I don't want to be pissed off when everyone is happy."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper winced as she stretched, "This sucks! I only have two more days until I have to fight, and I am still not as good as the guys…"

"Relax," Cale smiled at her, watching her closely as he sat up in a tree. "You will be fine when you fight. Your instincts will take over, do not worry, alright? We have taught you everything we could."

"Cale is right," Dais appeared in front of her, not startling her at all, only receiving a half-assed glare. He smiled at her, "You are getting better at not showing fear at sudden surprises…"

Cooper stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to laugh, "Yeah, well, Dais, at least I can see through your hard ass façade that you so love to hold over everyone in this village! And I have only known you truly for three weeks!"

"That was irrelevant to my earlier statement." Dais laughed.

Cooper frowned at him, pointing, "Shut up!" As he laughed even more, she blushed, causing Cale to join in with his laughter, "Please?" As they didn't stop, she crossed her arms over her chest, "If you don't stop I'm going to dress up and go out to the bars tonight, get drunk, and maybe go have sex with some unknown ninja…"

This caused both of them to become silent at once, looking at her with a protective glint in their eyes. She smiled sheepishly, and Cale jumped from the tree he was in, "Alright, that is the last time I let you go to the bar on your own! If I would have known that you are no longer a…"

"Cale!" Cooper yelled, blushing even more, "I'm still a virgin! Besides, Sage followed me and made sure that I didn't do anything!" Her blush grew even more than it had, her voice lowering, "Besides, you would freak out if I ever had a boyfriend…"

"The only boyfriend I would allow would be Halo, and that is because I know he cares about you and I also know that he is strong. He would be able to protect you if something happened," Cale stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cooper smiled at him, hugging Cale tightly, causing the Warlord to seem confused, "Oh thank you! I wasn't sure if you would approve of Sage and I!" She let him go, jumping up and down in her place, "Wait until Sage hears! He is going to be happy!" She turned to the house, "I better tell him, then both of us can go pick up Spoons and Sasuke!" With that she was gone, leaving the two Warlords standing there in shock.

Cale looked at Dais, "Did you know?"

Dais shook his head, "No, I was just going to ask you the same thing."

They blinked, walking towards the house, muttering to themselves about how they had been tricked into this by Cooper. "I'll admit, the girl is good in making people do what she wants them to do. She is conniving, very conniving, I will say that," Dais chuckled. "That could help her in a battle, does she know that?"

"No, or she would have used it before. She could win any battle if she wanted to." Cale chuckled as well, shaking his head.

Cooper launched herself at Sage, who had been sitting on the couch, reading a book. He grunted as she landed on him, causing him to almost loose his place in the book. As she looked up at him, her eyes caught what the title of the book was. She grabbed it from him, her face blushing, "Where did you get this?"

Sage smiled, "Spoons gave it to me. She said I would enjoy it, and I most certainly do…"

"These are my books!" Cooper yelled, glaring at him. "I didn't want anyone from here to read them! Especially you!"

"I love the main character. He reminds me of someone, I just can't place my finger on it, and his twin… hmmm…" Sage smiled at her. He then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to himself, "How did you get those amazing ideas?" As he placed a kiss on her forehead, she blushed a deep red.

She blinked, trying to think of how to word it without scaring him. She closed her eyes, sighing, "Well, it all comes from watching the Ronin Warriors episodes out of order. Like I'll start with episodes twenty to twenty-four and then I'll switch it to thirty four to thirty-nine. It keeps my mind moving with all the possibilities and all the places that I have to fill in the blanks."

He nodded, "I see. Now why did you launch onto me?"

Cooper seemed to become happy once more, her eyes lighting up, "Cale says we can be a couple!" She then jumped off of Sage, handing her book back to him, "Come on, we have to pick up Sasuke and Spoons. We don't want to be late…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoons squealed with joy as Sasuke and her waited for Cooper to pick them up. The reason for the squeal was sitting on a swing, looking around at everyone. She grabbed Sasuke's hand, "Come on, let's go meet him!"

"That's Naruto, the dobe." Sasuke stated evenly, even though he let his best friend drag him over to the swing holding Naruto.

Spoons smiled sweetly at Naruto, tilting her head to the left. "Who are you waiting for?" She knew that he was waiting for no one, that he had no one, but she wanted to appear that she didn't know.

"I'm not waiting for anyone. I am just waiting. I don't have any parents. I don't have anyone," Naruto replied to them, looking at both of them carefully.

Spoons smiled even more at that, squeezing Sasuke's hand that was in her own, "Well, neither does Sasuke! His family was killed! And I only have…" She started holding up fingers, "Cooper, Sage, Uncle Cale, Uncle Sekky, Uncle Dais, Rowen, Ryo, Cye, and Kento!" She nodded, "Yeah, I only have them!" She started to swing her arm back and forth, causing Sasuke to look at her as his did the same.

"Spoons…" He started.

Spoons giggled, "You want to join Sasuke and me for dinner with my family? It will be fun! Uncle Sekky is great!"

"Spoons! You pipsqueak! What are you up to now?" Cooper's voice brought Sasuke and Spoons spinning around, only to see Cooper and Sage standing there.

Sage smiled, "How was school?"

Spoons smiled, "Great!" She then let Sasuke's hand go, skipping over to him. She then leaned forward, causing him to kneel down and listen to her. She whispered, "I met someone new today." She pointed at Naruto, "His name's Naruto, and he doesn't have anyone." She then looked up at her older cousin, "So I invited him to dinner, Cooper!"

Cooper walked forward, placing her hand on Sasuke's head, ruffling his head, "Sure! I'm sure Cye won't mind cooking for one more person! You know how much he loves cooking!" She smiled at Naruto, kneeling down to his level, "What do you say? You want to join us? We have an extra spot at the table that has your name on it…"

Naruto held hope in his eyes, "Really?" At Cooper's nod, he jumped off of the swing, smiling, "Oh yes! Yes!"

Cooper laughed at that, looking up, only to see Spoons' teacher watching them closely. She knew him to be Iruka, and she also knew that Naruto would become like a little brother to him later on. But for now, Cooper was loving the little boy.

Spoons grabbed Sasuke's hand again, and then grabbed Naruto's hand, swinging both around as she started back towards the house, skipping. She was singing, "I got another friend! I got another friend!"

Sage chuckled as they followed the three children, "So, are you going to continue to let kids into our house, or are you going to stop somewhere?"

Cooper smiled slyly at him, walking in front of him and swaying her hips suggestively, "I don't know, Sage, what do you think?"

Sage smirked at her, grabbing her hips and pulling her back against him, halting their progress for a little bit. He then kissed her neck, "If you continue to tease me, I won't be able to control myself. It is hard enough with what you wear everyday…"

"My plan," she mumbled, closing her eyes. She started walking again, smiling as Sage followed her, "You know, Sage, I don't think Kakashi likes you that much…"

"Why would he?" Sage asked, causing Cooper to look at him, "I have you, and he doesn't, and Cale approves of me and not him. It's because of you." He shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I don't like the way his eyes travel over you when he sees you."

Cooper smiled at that, "A little protective, aren't we?"

"So is everyone else at the house!" Sage tried defending himself.

"I think it's romantic," Cooper giggled as they caught up with the three children.

Sasuke looked back at Cooper, "Are you going to be training today?"

Coooper smiled at the boy, "Yeah, I have two days left until I have to fight, so I have to." She then nodded, "You want to watch, don't you?" As Spoons and Sasuke nodded, she laughed, "Well, you might as well bring Naruto with you then, both of you. He will enjoy it when I beat Kento's ass finally!"

"Maybe you should fight him before dinner then, because he is weaker before he eats," Sage laughed along with her.

Cooper shook her head, "No, I don't want an advantage. I want to beat him fair and square." She then walked ahead of all of them, smiling as Cale opened the door to their home, "Hey Cale! We're back! And we've brought another tagalong!"

As Cale looked at Naruto, causing the boy to squirm in his place, Spoons leaned over to him, giggling, "Uncle Cale is always like that, but don't worry, he isn't as mean as he looks. He is Cooper's papa after all."

Cooper walked over to Cale, hitting him in the arm. She then lowered her voice, "Be nice, he doesn't have anyone, he is alone…"

Cale looked at her quickly before walking over to the boy, kneeling down and examining him. He then nodded, a small smile playing at his lips, "Alright, Cooper, you've picked another good one. I can see power in this one." Naruto smiled, and Cale chuckled, "So, what is your name?"

"Naruto Uzimaki!" Naruto smiled happily, looking from Cale to Spoons and back. He then lowered his voice as he looked at Cooper, "Are you really her father?"

Cale laughed out loud at that, nodding his head, "Why yes I am! Is it that obvious?"

Sasuke smirked a little at that, walking inside the house with everyone as they moved to the inside. His smile grew as he saw Ryo running around the living room, chasing Kento, who had taken something from him.

"Kento! Give my orb back! I mean it!" Ryo yelled.

Cooper walked forward, not even paying attention to all of them. As Kento came into her way, she pushed him, causing him to fall down into the couch. She then quickly swiped Ryo's orb out of his hands, giving it back to a panting Ryo, "There ya go, Ryo, enjoy!" She then pointed at Kento, "Tonight after dinner, both of us!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rowen stood with the three children, watching over them. Spoons smiled up at him before turning back to Naruto, who had been staring at him, "This is my big brother Rowen!" She then giggled, "He is really protective!"

Rowen frowned at that, looking down at her, "Hey!"

Spoons giggled even more, grabbing Sasuke's hand, "Well you are!" She stuck her tongue out, "You wouldn't train Sasuke and I. You said it was too dangerous!"

"Well it was! Especially at your age!" Rowen mumbled as Sekhmet came towards them, smiling.

Spoons forgot being mad with Rowen, squealing with delight, "Uncle Sekky!" She ran to him, lunging, and he caught her easily, swinging her around before putting her on his back and continuing to walk towards all of them. Spoons giggled as Sekhmet eyed Naruto, causing the boy to once again squirm under the intense gaze of a Warlord, "Uncle Sekky, this is Naruto! He's my friend! He's having dinner with us!"

Skehmet took Spoons off of his back, kneeling down in front of Naruto putting his hand on the boy's forehead, "Well then, if Spoons thinks you are a friend, then I guess you are." He smiled, "Welcome to the family, kid." He then looked up at Rowen, "They're going to start soon, you might want to bring the kids."

Spoons grabbed both Sasuke's and Naruto's hands, pulling them along with her as she ran into the forest, giggling nonstop. Rowen sighed, running after them, and Sekhmet followed casually behind.

As they came into the clearing, Cale and Dais were standing on the side, Spoons running over there with her two friends. She poked Dais, causing him to look down towards her. She smiled up at him, "Uncle Dais, meet Naruto!"

Dais turned his attention on the small boy, his gaze just as calculating as the other two Warlords. Spoons stuck her tongue out, "You are going to scare him away, Uncle Dais!" She then pouted out her lip, "Uncle Cale and Uncle Sekky did the same thing! I don't like it!"

Dais smiled then, his eye without the patch holding mirth, "We just want to see if he is the right type of friend for you. Sasuke had to go through the same thing." He then laughed, "Welcome to the family, Naruto!"

Naruto nodded silently, something that made Spoon's jaw drop. This wasn't the Naruto she knew from the episodes. Sasuke smirked at her and pushed her jaw back up, "What are you trying to do, catch flies?"

Spoons stuck her tongue out at him, tackling him to the ground and wrestling with him. She giggled and he laughed, both thrashing around desperately to outdo the other. Naruto watched in fascination, never having had anyone to play with. Spoons quickly jumped up, puffing out her chest and holding her head high, "I win! I win!" She then smiled at Naruto, "You can play with Sasuke now!" She giggled at his clueless look, "Go on! He won't hurt you, too much, that is…"

Sasuke sat up, a small smile on his lips as he watched Spoons skip over to Sekhmet. He then looked at Naruto, nodding, "Come on!" As Naruto just stared at him, he nodded, "Well, aren't you going to have some fun?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper fidgeted around on the ground, not liking to wait for the Third and their competitors. She moaned as Sage sat down beside her, "I hate all this waiting! I don't want to fight, and I don't think I can hold my own if we do a one on one fight. I'll just end up making them mad, and then they'll kill me!"

"We won't let them," Sage smiled at her, putting his hand on her cheek. "Just you watch, you will be great!"

As the Third walked into the clearing, a bunch of Konoha ninja behind him, Cooper jumped to her feet, shaking slightly from excitement. She smiled, "Well, can we get this thing going? I really don't have all day…"

One of the ninja watched her closely, "We start when the Third tells us to…"

"But I don't have all day!" Cooper glared at him, holding up a fist. "Spoons, Sasuke, and Naruto need to be picked up from the Academy, and then I need to go grocery shopping with Cye so he knows that Kento won't try to eat us out of house and home, and then I need to train with Cale and Dais. Not to mention we start the kids' training today with weapons…"

"Easy, Cooper," Cale laughed, watching as her glare intensified at the ninja, "he is only doing as his job instructs him to…"

Cooper crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah, well, his job sucks, that's what I have to say to him…" She then smirked, "Oh, and guess what…" As everyone looked at her, she flipped up her middle finger, sticking her tongue out at him as well, "Take that, hotshot! What do you have to say now?"

The ninja glared at her, and the Third tried to contain a chuckle, "Well, if you are so eager, Cooper, then I shall have you battle first. And I would like you to meet your opponent, Izumo Kamizuki."

Cooper's eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. She shook her head, looking at the Third, "You just waited for me to anger him and then picked him as my opponent! You stupid old man!"

"If he is old, then what does that make us?" Dais asked Sekhmet, causing the Warlord of Venom to laugh.

Izumo walked forward, glaring at Cooper, "Well, are you ready?"

Cooper looked from Cale to Sage and then to Izumo, "I just want to warn you ahead of time… You see those two. Make sure that you don't kill me, for they will kill you without a second thought if you do." She then shrugged off her coat, showing that she was wearing a green tub top that accented her body, "Man, is that a load off my shoulders."

Izumo stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. He cleared his throat, causing the Ronins and Warlords to laugh, "Well, shall we start?"

Cooper smiled sweetly at him, batting her eyelashes, "Well, alright, if you want, but I just want to apologize for my actions beforehand. I'm in a bad mood right now." She then ran at Izumo, launching herself onto him.

As both slammed into the ground, she smirked, straddling him. Ryo looked over at Sage, smiling, "Isn't this the way that she beat you, Sage?"

Sage blushed lightly, "Yeah, except she…"

Cooper leaned down closer to Izumo's face, smiling sweetly at him, "Izumo, you know, I can't fight very well, but when you provoke my pride, then you have a problem. Right now you have a hell cat on you with a fire that is burning deeply. What are you going to do?"

As Izumo flipped her, smirking, he leaned closer to her face, "That is what I am going to do…"

Rowen winced visibly, "Oh, he is in for it now…"

Cooper smirked at him, grabbing his upper arms and bringing her knee up, only to connect with his groin, causing him to roll off of her and moan. Cooper jumped up, glaring at him, "Now I'm pissed!" She launched herself towards him, only to have him disappear in a cloud of smoke. She coughed and looked around wildly, "Fuck you then! If you want to play dirty than I can too!"

She looked up just in time to see Izumo dropped down on her. She screamed in fright and fell to the ground, putting her hands over her head, waiting for him to slam down on her. It never came, and she opened her eyes and looked up, only to see Sage standing over her, Izumo pinned to a tree by Cale.

"If you think I am going to let my daughter get injured in the slightest when I am around, then you have another thing coming!" Cale growled, slamming Izumo into the tree even more.

Cooper stood up shakily, grabbing Sage, "See, you play dirty, I play dirty. Alls fair in war!"

Cye shook his head, smiling lightly, "Did they actually think that Cale was going to let her get hurt right in front of him? What idiots! They really don't know the Warlord of Darkness."

Cooper stuck her tongue out at Izumo as Cale let him go, "I guess that means that I win, eh?" She crossed her arms over her chest, "I have an army of armor bearers behind me that will attack anyone that comes near me with the wrong look in their eyes! What do you have?"

The Third laughed lightly, "Well, it wasn't what I thought it to be, but she is right. She does not have moves like us, but she has her family behind her."

Ryo smiled, walking forward, his sub armor appearing around him, "Alright, my turn!"

Cooper smiled at him, giving him a quick hug, "Good luck, Ryo! Do your best! Show them what the armor of Wildfire can do!"

Another ninja stepped forward, smiling, "Alright, I guess I am to be your opponent. I am Raido Namiashi."

Ryo smirked, cracking his neck, "The name's Ryo Sanada, and I'm the bearer of the armor Wildfire." With that, he summoned his armor, quickly unsheathing his katanas, "Be ready for a fight you won't forget!"

"Get 'em Ryo!" Cooper giggled, sitting down and leaning against a tree.

As Raido rushed towards Ryo, he just jumped out of the way, smiling. "You are going to have to do better than that, let me tell you! We defeated Talpa in my world! And this is just too easy!" With that, he lunged at Raido, only giving him enough chance to pull out a kunai and guard from his katanas.

Ryo smirked, swiping his foot under Raido's causing the ninja to fall into the ground, Ryo standing over him. Ryo shook his head, "I told you, you can't take it this easy on me. Or it will just end up like this!"

"Too bad Spoons wasn't here to see my Ronins beat the shit out of her ninjas," Cooper laughed lightly, watching as Ryo, placed his swords at Raido's throat. "That's two for us, zero for them!"

She closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep as the others started their battles. She didn't know how much time had passed before someone grabbed her and she was flying through the trees. She screamed, "Sage! Cale! Help me! Gods! Let the hell go of me, now!" She started struggling in the figure's grip, but they wouldn't let her go.

As she looked up at see who had her, she paled considerably. She didn't understand it. A mirror image of herself was holding her tightly. She screamed loudly, causing her twin to wince. As they landed, she looked around, only to see that they were in the same clearing where everyone was.

The twin nodded, smiling. As she spoke, she sounded exactly like Cooper, "That should do it! He won't know which is which!"

As Cale came barreling into the clearing, wearing his armor, Cooper screamed and started attacking her twin. Her twin screamed exactly as she had and started attacking her back. Cale watched the two intently, not understanding what was going on. "Cooper?" Both young women looked at him, pointing at the other one.

"That's not the real one!" They both yelled in unison.

Cale looked at the Third, and the Third smiled, "The Transformation Technique, something every ninja should be able to do."

Cale growled, walking towards both Coopers. They both stood strong, glaring at once another. Finally one turned towards Sage, pointing at the other, "Sage, that's the fake one!"

The other Cooper glared at her, flipping her off and sticking out her tongue, "Fuck you! You think I am the fake one? Ask us questions that only I would know! Ask me about the Ronin Warriors! That is for sure the only way!"

Cale smirked at that, "Alright, who is the oldest of us all?"

The Cooper looking at Sage rolled her eyes, "Dais, duh."

The other Cooper seemed shocked, nodding, "That's right, but…"

"Next question," Cale mumbled, taking another step towards them, holding up his no dachi, "What is Sage's kanji symbol."

The second Cooper smirked at that, jumping forward and flipping the first Cooper off, "Ha! I know you won't know this one! I never said it at all, and neither has anyone else!" She then crossed her arms over her chest, "His kanji symbol would be Rei, commonly known as wisdom, or grace, whichever you want to choose!"

Cale smirked, knowing for sure that she was indeed the real Cooper, "Nicely done, Cooper, I should have figured you would jump at that and know right off the bat!" He then turned to the other Cooper, "Now, reveal yourself!"

The first Cooper glared at the other one, "Not fair! How do I know you didn't read my thoughts?"

Cale looked between the two, growling lightly and holding his no dachi up higher, causing the first Cooper to wince. He then smirked, "That's how I know who the real one is. The real Cooper knows that I would never raise my sword against her, so she shows no fear! I know my own daughter well enough to know from the beginning who was who. I just wanted her to get excited." He nodded to the real Cooper, "Just as I thought you would do."

Cooper giggled as the other one seemed to become Mizuki. Her giggling stopped at that, and she shivered, quickly running over to him and punching him across the face. She growled, "If you ever touch me again like that, I am going to kill you, you fucking pervert!" With those words, she walked back over to her tree, sitting down and wrapping her arms around herself. Sage sat down beside her, smiling as Cale and Mizuki started their fight again, this time with Cale not backing off or caring if he hurt Mizuki.

Sage smiled, "You know, Cale was worried about you when you left the clearing with Mizuki…"

Cooper yawned, looking into Sage's eyes sleepily, "Yeah? What about you? Did you fight yet? Did I miss it?"

Sage smiled, "Yeah, you were asleep, but I had to battle Kakashi. Too bad he didn't fair too well when you started mumbling my name in your sleep…" At that, Cooper blushed, and Sage laughed, "I beat him with no problem then, fueled on by you and the thought that I had to beat him to protect you." He wiped the hair out of her face, smiling as she blushed even more. "I love it when you blush, it adds to your beauty…"

"Alright! Alright! I concede! You win!" Mizuki yelled, causing Cale to snarl even more.

"I don't think so! You aren't getting out of this so easily!" Cale yelled at him, raising his no dachi into the air.

Everyone turned to Cooper, and Sage mumbled, "Aren't you going to stop him?"

Cooper stood, stretching, "Nope, not now. I want to see Mizuki's scared face…" As Cale brought his no dachi down, Cooper took another step towards him, smiling, "Enough, Cale, I think he has the point…"

Cale's no dachi landed inches from Mizuki's head, causing the ninja to go wide eyed and forget to breathe for a couple of moments. Cale smirked, looking back at Cooper, "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Oh, greatly. I loved to see his scared face! It was payback for making you think that I wasn't the real Cooper!" She walked over and knelt down to look at Mizuki, smiling devilishly, "Maybe next time you will think twice to mess with my father and to steal me to play a little game with him!" She flipped him off before turning away from him and looking back at Sage and the others, a smile on her face, "Well then, whose next?"

"Cale was the last one, Cooper, you slept through everyone else," Sekhmet laughed.

"So, uh… what's the score?" Cooper asked, "I want to know so I can rub it into Spoons' face that my warriors are better than her ninjas!"

"It's what you think it is," Dais replied, a smirk on his face.

Cooper smirked back, stretching some more before looking down at her watch. Her eyes went wide, and she quickly ran out of the clearing, "Oh no! I'm late! Those poor kids! What an idiot! Goddamn it! I can't even be on time to pick them up from the Academy!"

Sage laughed lightly before running after her, "I'll meet you guys back at the house!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alrighty then! Another chapter down! So, how do you like it, huh? Huh? Tell me.

Sage: Well, I personally like it, but that's just me…

GDW: You like it because you are winning with the points system! And because your sexy!

Sage: Alright, so you got me, but it is pretty good… A little crazy, but good. I kind of like the Naruto world. It's interesting.

GDW: It gets better! Much better! Just wait!

Well… until I update again… keep reading and please review!


	4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors or Naruto. There, I said it… But I did try to steal Sage's and Cale's souls… Haha!

GDW: Hey everyone! I'm back! And I finally got my first review! This is so awesome!

**_:Cale walks into the room along with Sage: _** Yeah, she got her first review, and I read it! I mean…

Sage: Wow, how good was it?

Cale: Liquid Earth really made her happy. I mean, she was jumping up and down in her dorm room tonight…

GDW: Hey guys, did you hear? I got my first review… Oh wait, yeah, you did, Cale, you read it!

Cale: The comments were wonderful! I was entertained for quite a while afterwards as I watched you dance around.

GDW: I loved how you read it to me…

Sage: You read the review to her? You actually let her get excited over it? Man, how stupid were you?

Cale: You have no clue, Halo! She actually wanted _me_ to dance with her!

GDW: Oh well, let's let them read this! Oh, Liquid Earth! This chapter is for you! Thanks for the first review, I loved it! Enjoy it! This is all for you!

_**Chapter Three**_

Cooper sighed, laying her head against Sage's chest on the couch, "Three… Two…"

Sage laughed lightly, "One…"

"Hi Cooper, Sage!" Spoons yelled as she ran through the living room, carrying a lunch bag. As she reached the other end, running out of the room, she yelled back, "Bye Cooper, Sage!"

Spoons was now officially twelve, along with Sasuke and Naruto, and all three were taking the Genin test. Living in Konoha had become a part of their life, and they could barely remember anything before. Sage and Cooper had a deep relationship, and were even engaged, something that didn't surprise any of the others living in the house with them.

Cooper moaned, "I'll bet you ten bucks she comes running back in saying she forgot something, Sasuke trailing after her, yelling that she is a freaking idiot."

Sage laughed, shaking his head, "Naw, I don't want to take on that…"

"Oh man! I forgot my kunais!" Spoons yelled, running back through the living room, Sasuke trailing behind her.  
"Spoons, you're a freaking idiot!" Sasuke yelled at her as she disappeared up the stairs to her room that she had stolen from Cooper, who was now staying in Sage's room. Sasuke nodded to Cooper and Sage, "Good morning Cooper, Sage."

Cooper smiled tiredly up at the twelve year old boy, "Good luck today, Sasuke, and tell Naruto that I wish him good luck as well, alright?"

Sasuke nodded as Spoons raced back to him, grabbing his hand and pulling him along, "I will, don't worry."

"Good luck, Spoons!" Cooper yelled as the girl disappeared, dragging Sasuke behind her. She then looked at Sage, "Well, I can't wait to hear if they passed or not. That will be great! Spoons will be so proud when she comes back with a forehead protector!"

Sage laughed, "I think Cye planned to celebrate tonight. He is spending the whole day cooking everything."

"I have to get them something that they will enjoy! A present to say they did a good job!" Cooper mumbled, jumping up off the couch and pacing the room.

Cooper had relented to everyone's pleas and tried to get her books published, succeeding immediately. They were now the best sellers beside Icha Icha Paradise books.

Sage laughed lightly, "Well, I know that you could buy Sasuke your first book. He started to read mine, and he was so intrigued. That would be a good gift for him…"

Cooper nodded, "Alright, there's one down, now I need to think of something for Spoons…"

"Well, she did loose Tinkerbelle one and two when they died… You could get her a stuffed animal…" Sage suggested, loving how Cooper was pacing.

"Yeah, yeah! That's good! Really good!" Cooper smiled, nodding once again. "Now for Naruto…"

"Just get him some instant Ramen or free passes to the Ramen stand," Sage smiled.

Cooper turned to him, causing him to almost moan in want, "You know what! I agree! Those are all the best ideas I have ever heard of!" She launched herself onto him, causing him to truly moan, "Come on Sage, we have to go shopping for gifts!"

888

Spoons squealed in joy as Sasuke smiled. He nodded to her, "Great job, Spoons, you passed!"

Spoons giggled, pointing to his forehead protector as well, "You too!"

They then both walked over to the swing where they always met Naruto. They saw him sitting there, looking saddened. Sasuke blinked, "Naruto, what's wrong? Where's your forehead protector?"

Naruto lowered his head, "I didn't pass…"

Spoons gasped, shaking her head, "No! You should have!" Tears came to her eyes, "That's not fair! You should have passed! They are just mean!" She then took her forehead protector off, "If you didn't pass, then I don't want to pass!"

Sasuke did the same, "Same here! If we can't all pass together, then none of us pass!"

Naruto shook his head, "No! No! Don't worry about it, guys! I'm fine. You passed, that should be good!"

Spoons frowned as she walked back towards the school ignoring the protests of Sasuke and Naruto. As she got to the front door, Iruka was standing there, closing the doors. As he turned to her, smiling, she shook her head, tears in her eyes as she threw the forehead protector at him, "I hate you!" She then wiped her eyes quickly, "It's not fair! Not fair! Why couldn't he pass? Everyone else passed! Why does he have to be the only one? He's good!"

Iruka watched her intently, "He didn't meet the requirements…"

Spoons turned away from him, "Then keep your forehead protector! I don't want to be a ninja!" As she started walking away from Iruka, he called to her, causing her to turn back around. Her glare could cut someone in two, "What do you want?"

"You are now a ninja, Spoons, you cannot always get what you want, and your friends aren't always there for you…" He started.

Spoons ignored him, walking back over to the other two, tears in her eyes as she grabbed Sasuke in a hug, "It's not fair, Sasuke! Why can't he just pass Naruto?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto sadly, "I don't know, Spoons…"

Naruto lowered his head, "You two go home. I'll see you around, alright?"

Mizuki walked up behind them, placing Spoons' forehead protector back on her forehead, "Don't worry, Iruka can be harsh at times…" He then nodded at Spoons and Sasuke, "Go on home. I have to talk to Naruto alone, alright?"

888

Spoons sniffled, trying to hold her tears in as both her and Sasuke came to her house. As they entered, everyone was sitting in the living room, smiling at both of them. Their smiles disappeared as they saw Spoons' tears and Sasuke's saddened face.

Cooper jumped to her feet, "What's wrong? Where is Naruto?"

Spoons started crying at that, running to Sekhmet and burying her face into his chest as she wrapped her arms around him, "I hate him! I hate Iruka-sensei!"

Sage looked at Sasuke, "What happened?"

Sasuke frowned, "Naruto was the only one that didn't pass, and Spoons and I said that if he didn't pass, we wouldn't, but Mizuki told us not to worry. He said he had to talk to Naruto alone."

Cooper frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and started walking towards the door, "That's it! No one messes with my little Naruto and gets away with it!" She started growling as she opened the door, "Where is he? I am going to have a talk with Iruka!"

Ryo quickly grabbed her, "Settle down, there has to be a very good reason why Naruto failed…"

"It doesn't matter!" Cooper yelled, pulling away from him, "He did everything right, I just know he did!" She looked at Spoons, "Right?"

Spoons nodded, "Yeah, in the show he does everything right, it just isn't perfect, and so Iruka failed him!"

Cooper turned back to Ryo, "See!" She then walked out of the house, leaving everyone else sitting there, looking at the two children. Kento moaned, "Does this mean we have to wait until she comes back to eat?"

Cye glared at him, "Poor Naruto failed his Genin exam for what seems to be nothing and here you are worried about food!" He then hit him, "And now Cooper is going to attack their teacher!"

Cale looked at Sage, "Well, are you going to stop your fiancé?"

Sage laughed at him, "Are you nuts? I think I have learned a few things about her before this! I know that when she is set on something, don't get into her way or face the wrath of her fists and feet!"

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes, "I really wanted Naruto to pass. We were all going to be on the same team! We were going to be unstoppable!"

Spoons nodded, smiling for the first time since she had gotten mad with Iruka, "Don't worry, it will all turn out alright, you'll see!"

888

Cooper mumbled to herself as she walked towards the group of ninjas accumulated around the Third, clenching her fists. It had turned dark out, she knew it, for she had cooled herself down some before she attempted to talk to anyone. As she came upon the ground, she started growling, pushing the other ninjas out of her way, "Move it! Move out of the way! I'm serious here! I need to…"

"Ah, Cooper! I was just about to send someone to get you and your family," the Third nodded. One ninja nodded and disappeared, probably to go get the rest of her family, as he had said.

Cooper's eyes narrowed as they fell upon Iruka. She snarled and took a step forward, "I need to have a talk with you immediately!"

"It will have to wait, I am afraid, Cooper, for one of the students has stolen the scroll of sealing…" The Third started.

Cooper's eyes went wide, "Naruto." She then spun on her heels, running away from them, "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!"

"Colorful language for someone so beautiful," one of the ninjas laughed, shaking his head.

Cooper continued running, only to slam into someone. They grabbed her and kept her steady, and she saw that it was Sage. The others were right behind him. She frowned, "I'm taking it that you have been told?"

Sage nodded, "I left Cye with the kids, don't worry about them. Do they have any clue as to who…"

"Naruto," Cooper mumbled, spinning back around and running back towards the entrance to the village. "He was tricked, trust me when I say this, and we have to get to him!"

Sage grabbed her, slowing her down, "Slow down! Easy! Now please, explain to all of us because we have no clue what you are talking about. Remember, we aren't…"

"Mizuki tricked Naruto into thinking that if he stole the scroll and learned the techniques that he would be able to pass the test. Mizuki is after him, and so is Iruka, and I need to get to him before they decide to confuse him into running!" Cooper's face pleaded with all of them. She then nodded, "Suit up warriors! Now's the time to show what you can really do! We are going to have to fight Mizuki to save Naruto!" She then started to mumbled as they all ran out into the forest, "Damn ninjas! Who do they think they are? Running through the trees and not on the ground! Goddamn them!"

She screamed as Sage grabbed her and lunged up into a tree, "Just because the ninjas can do it doesn't mean we can't as well!" Cooper looked around her to see that the others were doing the same thing, and she smiled, hitting Sage lightly, "Why didn't you tell me to begin with? You guys are going to have to teach me how to do this!"

Sage laughed, but his laughter stopped as he saw a figure down below. He nodded, "Cooper…"

Cooper looked down, her eyes narrowing as she caught sight of both Iruka and Naruto. She nodded as well, "Come on! We have to explain what is going on!"

As they landed, Cale quickly whipped around, "Cooper!"

Cooper turned from her position in front of Iruka, "Huh?"

Sage's eyes went wide as he readied to lung for her to push her out of the way, only to be too late. He felt pain stab his heart as she screamed in pain when kunais slammed into her, slamming her into Iruka and sending both of them into the building.

"I'm surprised you found out about this place," Mizuki's voice came from a tree.

Cooper whimpered as Iruka set her down gently on the ground, He then glared up at Mizuki, "I see, so that's how it is!"

Naruto looked frightened as he looked over at Cooper. Mizuki spoke once again, "Naruto, hand over the scroll."

Sage growled as he suited up into Halo, holding his no dachi in front of him, "I should kill you for hurting my fiancé!"

Cale powered up as well, holding his no dachi the same, "I should do far worse!"

The other suited up, holding their weapons in front of them, ready to battle. Naruto looked from one to another, "Hey… what's going on here?"

"Naruto, don't let him get the scroll no matter what!" Iruka mumbled, glaring at Mizuki. "That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden techniques. Mizuki used you so that he could get a hold of it!

"Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you possessing that," Mizuki stated calmly.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused. He looked around.

Cale growled, "Naruto, he is lying! I should have known when he pulled that stunt against me that he was rotten! He reminds me of the Nether Spirits!"

Sage growled, "Don't listen to him, Naruto! Listen to us! We would never lie to you! Keep that scroll away from him at all costs!"

Naruto grabbed his head, "Ah! This is confusing!"

Cooper's soft voice brought Naruto's attention to her lying form, "Naruto, believe in your heart. I will not tell you what is right or wrong, just believe who you think you should believe. We wouldn't steer you wrong, I promise."

"I'll tell you the truth!" Mizuki laughed.

Iruka seemed to become angered at that, "Don't!"

"A rule was created after an incident that happened twelve years ago." Mizuki started.

"A rule?" Naruto asked, looking from Cooper to Mizuki.

"It's a rule that only you, Naruto, cannot find out about." Mizuki smirked.

Cooper screamed out in pain, "Stop Mizuki! Don't!"

"It's a rule not to say that Naruto is a monster fox. In other words, you are the nine tailed demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village." Mizuki smirked even more.

Iruka screamed at him, "Stop!"

"You've been deceived by the village people all this time. Didn't you think it was weird that everyone hated you so much?" Mizuki laughed lightly.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Cooper smiled softly as Naruto was surrounded by Chakra, "Yeha, he learned that language from me…"

"You'll never be recognized by the village!" Mizuki yelled, "Even Iruka hates you!"

Ryo yelled, attaching his katanas together, "Shut up! What do you know? You don't know anything about who recognizes and who hates little Naruto! 'Cause we certainly don't and we never will!"

Mizuki glared at all of them, "Die Naruto!" He then threw his huge Shuriken at the boy, hoping to kill him.

Dais glared at Mizuki, jumping in front of Naruto and batting the Shuriken out of the way, "You know, this is not the way to get on our good side, especially since Cooper loves him like a little brother!"

Cooper struggled to her feet, pulling out the kunai from her body, "You…" She winced, "will… never… get that scroll!" She then screamed, throwing the kunai back at Mizuki, only to have them miss horribly.

"You need to work on your aim, Cooper!" Mizuki laughed.

Cooper collapsed to the ground, Sage quickly catching her. Dais's voice came from behind Mizuki, causing him to turn around, "She was just the distraction!" Standing upside down from the branch above him was Dais, his faceguard on to make him look more menacing. He laughed as Mizuki seemed to fall backwards.

Mizuki caught himself, though, and yelled at Naruto, "They all hate you, Naruto! Every single one of them!"

Naruto ran away at that, Cooper holding out her hand helplessly, "Naruto, come back! Come back! It's not true! We all love you deeply!"

Iruka watched as Mizuki followed Naruto, "Take Cooper back to the village, get her treated. I'll go and get Naruto back, I promise…"

Copper screamed as he started to run away, "No! I don't trust you! You failed Naruto! No!" Tears came to her eyes, "Naruto… Oh please, come back safe…" She then looked at Rowen, "Go after them! Make sure nothing happens to Naruto, got it?"

Rowen nodded, smiling, "You just rest and get better, I will make sure Naruto comes back safely!" With those words he was gone, chasing after Naruto and Iruka.

Sage picked Cooper up bridal style, "Come on, we better get you back to the village…"

888

GDW: Hoped you loved this chapter, because I really liked writing it!

Cale: **_shakes head:_** Now she is off to write more, even though she has chapters written already…

Sage: Yeah, it makes me laugh every single time she rereads it! I mean, she gets all jumpy and wants to write more ,even though she has work she has to do!

GDW: **_sticks out tongue:_** Fine then, be that way, but at least I have fun doing it! Oh well, I better get going and maybe write more! So, until I update again… Bye!


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own them, though I have tried to steal Sage's and Cale's souls… Hey, they would be happy with me!

GDW: ALRIGHT! Another chapter! I hope you all are liking this!

Cale: Well, we know Liquid Earth is!

Sage: Most definitely. She reviewed again.

GDW: Yeah, and I added her character in! It's not until the end, but she's got quite a bit of playing time in here so far, considering I went back and rewrote the ending of this chapter so she could be in it! So this chapter, once again, is for you Liquid Earth! Enjoy! Because I had fun writing your part… Oh, and I hope Liz is in character. If she isn't, tell me so I can change her to fit your standards.

_**Chapter Four**_

Cooper sat down on the couch, sighing as everyone else gave her some breathing room. She smiled at them, "I'm fine, I'm fine, alright? Just some cuts and bruises that will take time to heal, nothing big."

The group had taken her to the hospital, and she had been bandaged and sent home, now they were just waiting for Rowen and Naruto. Sage sat down beside her, his eyes holding worry, "Are you sure…"

"Sage, you finish that sentence, and I will make sure that you sleep on the couch tonight!" Cooper growled lightly.

Everyone's attention turned to the door only to see Rowen holding Naruto by the back of his shirt, Iruka beside him. Rowen smiled, "Iruka wanted to take him to the Ramen stand, but I insisted that they come back here."

Naruto pulled out of Rowen's grip, running over to Cooper and grabbing her in a hug, causing her to hiss quietly as to not scare him, "Cooper! Cooper! I passed!"

Cooper smiled, joy entering her at that, wrapping her arms around the boy, "Really? That's great!" She then laughed, wincing lightly, "We can now celebrate!" She whispered to him, "Cye made Ramen just for you, Naruto!"

Naruto yelled in joy, causing Spoons and Sasuke to walk into the room, wiping the sleep out of their eyes. Spoons smiled as she saw Naruto, "Naruto…" She became awake at once and ran to him. As she lunged onto both Naruto and Cooper, she squealed in joy as she noticed his forehead protector, "You passed! You passed! Yay!"

Cooper waved her arms around wildly, "Sage! Dear! Please! I can't breathe, and they are killing me! They weigh more than what they look!" As everyone just laughed at the scene, she screamed, "HELP ME OUT HERE! NOW!"

Sasuke laughed at that, grabbing his abdomen as Sage and Sekhmet quickly pulled the two other Genin off of Cooper. Sasuke then walked forward, a small smile on his face, "Now we just have to see who is on who's team."

Cooper sighed, putting a hand over her chest, "Whew, I can breathe!" She then ruffled Spoon's and Naruto's hair, "Well, we can celebrate now, you know that, and we have food and everything!"

Sage chuckled, pulling her to her feet and supporting her so she could stand, "We eve got you a little something to congratulate you all."

Cooper nodded, turning to the coffee table in the room, "Yeah, Spoons yours is the dark blue one, Sasuke's is the black one, and Naruto, yours is the orange one."

Spoons quickly grabbed her gift, looking it over quickly, "It isn't going to explode on me, is it?"

Sekhmet laughed at that, shaking his head, "No, we promise it won't!"

At those words, Spoons opened the box up, gasping. A small smile and tears came to her face as she pulled out a stuffed penguin, "Awww! Thanks!"

Cooper smiled sadly at her, "I know how much both Tinkerbells meant to you when they died, so I thought this might do until I can get you something living, eh?"

Sasuke eyed his gift, causing Spoons to poke him, "Just open it! Please?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, opening the gift nonetheless. A smile came to his lips as he pulled out the first book of Cooper's series. As he opened the cover, she had written a little note to him, saying along the lines of that he was a special part of their family and had inspired a new character in her book. She then had signed it for him.

"Thank you Cooper. I have been wanting to read your books," Sasuke smiled even more, opening to where he had last been in Sage's book, starting to read.

Cooper smiled sweetly at him, "I know, Sage told me. So, you are the first ever to get any copy before it comes out on the shelves, I promise." She then looked at Naruto, "Now, you, Naruto, and please do not tackle me in joy."

Naruto took his gift carefully, looking at everyone around him, his eyes widening as he actually opened it up and pulled out six free meal tickets to the ramen stand. As he jumped for joy, Cooper grabbed Ryo, placing him in front of her just in time to miss the Naruto slamming into him.

Cooper laughed, pointing at the struggling Ryo, "Looks like you have your hands full, Ryo!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Naruto yelled, hugging the struggling Ryo.

Dais smiled as Sasuke walked forward, smiling at them all. He had noticed the boy rarely smiled around anyone other than them. He ruffled his hair somewhat, causing Sasuke to frown up at him, "So, I take it you enjoy Cooper's books, eh?"

Sasuke nodded at that, "They are quite interesting, but I could never get a copy, and Sage actually let me read his. I was automatically hooked, but I never got to finish it…"

"You know that she plans to have twenty books in total, right?" Rowen smiled down at him, walking over to them. "She told us that once, and I believe it."

888

Spoons giggled as she sat down beside Sasuke, "I wonder what teams we will be on!"

Naruto sat down on the other side of her, a smile on his face, causing Spoons to giggle even more, "Just watch! We will have the best teams!"

"I hope we are all on the same team," Spoons sighed dreamily, knowing that it probably wouldn't happen. She knew that in the series Sakura was the other member of their team. She started wondering who she would end up with, knowing that it would probably be an unknown team.

Iruka came into the classroom, smiling as everyone hushed, waiting to hear who would be on who's team. Spoons sighed once again, but this one was full of sadness. She placed her arms onto the desk in front of her and leaned her head against it, watching Iruka but not really paying attention. Sasuke looked down at her, worry in his eyes, "Spoons, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?"

Spoons grunted as an answer, and Naruto looked at her as well, putting his hand on her forehead, "Are you running a fever?"

Spoons pulled away from him, frowning, "I'm fine, you two, just shut up and listen to the teams. Tell me what team I'm on, alright? I really don't have the heart to listen anymore."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance at each other before looking back down at Iruka. Spoons felt her heart clench, knowing that Sakura was going to be on their team and that she wouldn't see Sasuke very much anymore.

As she buried her face into her arms, letting a few of her tears fall, Iruka announced team seven, causing Sasuke and Naruto to smile at each other. They were on the same team, something that they thought would please Spoons greatly.

After Iruka had announced every team, Naruto nudged Spoons, smiling greatly, "Hey, hey, hey, Spoons!"

Spoons looked up at them, sadness in her eyes, "Well, what team am I on? Who are the two others that I have to deal with?"

"Sasuke and I are on the same team!" Naruto smiled at her, keeping her still feeling saddened.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hitting Naruto upside the head, "Forget what Naruto said, Spoons, I'll tell you what team you are on." Spoons watching him closely, noticing that Sakura wasn't anywhere near them. Sasuke smirked, putting his hand on hers, "You're on team seven, Spoons…"

"Yeah! Yeah! With us! You're on our team!" Naruto smiled, bouncing around in his seat.

Spoons' jaw dropped as she looked at both of them, "Uh, are you sure?"

"You don't see anyone else with us, do you?" Sasuke smirked at her, causing her to squeal in joy and grab him in a hug. He waved his arms around, "Hey! Hey! Come one now! Not in public!"

As he pulled her out to arm's length, Sasuke noticed Spoons was crying lightly, turning her head away from them. She quickly wiped at her eyes, "How?"

Sasuke shrugged, and Naruto laughed, lunging onto her, "What does it matter? We're on the same team!"

Spoons nodded, a smile appearing on her face, "Yeah, I guess you are right." She then noticed everyone had left except for them, "Uh, what are we waiting for?"

"Our Jounin instructor," Sasuke shrugged sitting down in a seat by the front of the classroom. "We are to wait for them."

Spoons smirked evilly at that, turning to watch Naruto trying to rig up a trap. She then cleared her throat, "Uh, Naruto, why don't you forget about that? I know he is making us wait, but trust me when I say this isn't going to help us in the long run, alright?"

As Naruto frowned at her, she quickly grabbed the eraser out of his hands, throwing it into his face and causing chalk dust to poof everywhere on him. Spoons laughed hysterically at Naruto as the dust cleared to show him completely white.

Sasuke snickered lightly, but held most of his laughter in. As this whole display was going on, someone entered the room, watching the three patiently. Spoons looked up from her laughter to see the person, and she blanched. As her laughter quickly died and she pointed, Naruto turned, "What's gotten into you, Spoons?"

Spoons worked her mouth, trying to say something, but nothing came out. Standing there, leaning against the doorframe was Kakashi, his eye smiling at her. He chuckled as he pushed away from his support, "Well, we meet again, Spoons, don't we?"

Spoons glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest, "I still think you are stupid!"

Kakashi shook his head, walking towards them, "Well, my first impression of you was that you were stupid as well…"

Spoons screamed at that and lunged onto Kakashi, startling him as she started to hit him and bit him. "I am not stupid! I graduated! You are stupid! You can't even beat Sage!"

Kakashi glared at Spoons, pulling her away from him, "How did you find out about that?"

Spoons smirked at him, "Sage was bragging about it around the village… well, not really, but as soon as I found out, I bragged it around the city!" She then giggled, "You should see your face, Kakashi!"

"Meet me up on the roof," Kakashi growled, dropping Spoons and disappearing.

Naruto laughed, pointing at Spoons, "Kakashi-sensei doesn't like you!"

Spoons crossed her arms over her chest and walked out of the room, anger building in her. Sasuke walked after her, but not before hitting Naruto upside the head. As Naruto asked him why he had done it, Sasuke glared at him, "You made fun of Spoons, Naruto. That wasn't very nice."

888

Cooper rolled over in the bed, snuggling closer to Sage in her sleep, the bearer of Halo wrapping his arms around her even tighter. The two hadn't gotten out of bed yet, content to be in each other's arms. The others in the house had let them sleep under Cale's orders.

The door slammed open, causing Cooper and Sage to pull away from each other, falling out of the bed as well. Screaming ensued then, and the two that had come into the room quickly retreated, slamming the door shut once again. Cooper blinked as she rubbed her head, which had slammed off of the floor, "Uh, what was that? Has Talpa come back?"

Sage laughed as he stood, naked, "No, I just think Spoons has returned…"

"Ahh! My eyes! They burn!" Spoons' voice was heard from the other side of the door. "Sasuke! I can't see! I'm blind!"

"Speak for yourself!" Sasuke yelled back at her. "I saw it too! Why didn't you tell me they did that?"

"How was I supposed to know that they slept…" Spoons yelled. There was then silence before she spoke again, but her voice was a whisper, "naked…"

Cooper stood up, storming over to the door, not caring that she wasn't wearing anything at all. She opened the door, her eyes full of anger, "Maybe next time you will knock or not enter at all, squirt!" With that, she slammed the door shut, turning back to Sage, a blush on her face. She sat back down on the bed, moaning lightly as Sage started to massage her back, "Not the way I wanted to wake up this morning."

Sage smiled down at her, "Relax, at least they both know not to do it again… anyway, where was Naruto?"

"No! No, Naruto! Don't! I beg you!" Spoons' voice screamed.

"Why not? I want to tell Cooper who our sensei is!" Naruto's hyperactive voice stated before the door started to open.

Cooper turned to look at Sage, and both wore faces of shock. Both dove under the covers that were left on the bed just as Naruto bounded into the room. Cooper nodded, "Naruto, you could have knocked."

Naruto tilted his head, "Why are both of you still in bed?" He grabbed the covers and started to pull on them.

Sage yelled at him, "Stop Naruto! You don't want to pull this sheet off of us, understand?"

Spoons' head popped into the room, but her eyes were closed, "Naruto, get out of there now! Cooper and Sage are…" She shuddered before whispering, "naked."

Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly jumped out of the room, slamming the door. As he leaned against it, his eyes were wide. Sasuke smirked despite the situation, "What was that, Naruto? I thought you were going to tell Cooper who our sensei was!"

Sekhmet came walking by, and he stopped for a moment, "Oh, don't bother Sage and Cooper, please, you three. They are still sleeping, and Cale wants them to get as much sleep as they can…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "They aren't doing much sleeping, I can tell you that…"

Sekhmet turned away from them, not wanting them to see his smile at that. He then walked away, shaking his head, "Never mind. Why don't you all go help Cye? Dinner should be soon, and he will probably want the help…"

All three ran to the kitchen, hoping to forget what they had just seen. Sekhmet came back to the room, knocking on the door. He heard Sage's grunt as an answer to come in, and he opened the door, a smirk on his face. He nodded at the fully clothed couple, "I hope you weren't doing anything when they walked in, you two, that would surely scar them for life…"

Cooper glared at the Warlord, "We were sleeping, Sekhmet, just…" she started blushing, "without… clothes."

"Well, all three are down in the kitchen at the moment, helping with dinner. I hope you enjoyed your nap…" Sekhmet laughed, shaking his head and walking out of the room.

Both Sage and Cooper followed him, knowing that the three younger ones would try and stay away from them for a while. As they entered the living room, the heard Spoons' voice coming from the couch. "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei said that we shouldn't eat breakfast and that we could bring any weapons that we had…"

"Really now? Well then, I might have to give you your birthday present early then!" Cale laughed, sitting down in the chair opposite of the couch.

Ryo laughed, "Yeah, I guess we are going to have to give you your birthday presents early, that's all."

Cooper smiled as she dropped herself on the couch beside Spoons, causing the girl to scoot away from her, "What's the matter, Spoons? And what was so important that you had to barge into our room to talk to us without knocking?"

Ryo winced at that, laughing lightly, "Oh, that's not good."

Rowen smirked lightly, "Saw something you didn't want to see? That's why you always knock when the door is closed."

Spoons blushed as Kento laughed, "Maybe you will feel the same way after you get yourself someone!"

Sasuke blushed as well as Spoons looked over at him sheepishly and then looked down at the floor. Dais smirked at the option, "But you are too young to be thinking of something like that! Gods know that Sage wouldn't allow you to be with a boy until you are at least twenty!"

Sage chuckled at that, sitting down beside Cooper, "Yeah, I agree with Dais!" He then nodded at Cale, "And I think Cale wouldn't let you be with anyone until you were at least thirty." He then put his hand on Sasuke's head, ruffling his hair, "You didn't catch us doing anything, you two. No, we were just sleeping."

Cooper laughed as Spoons scrunched up her nose, "Squirt, when you get to my age and you are sleeping with someone, let me tell you that since you did it to me, I am sure as hell going to do it to you! If not me, then my kids! Take that one!"

Spoons stuck her tongue out at Cooper, "Well, Kakashi-sensei is going to flip when I tell him what I saw!" She then started laughing, liking the idea of telling her sensei what she had seen, "Maybe then we will pass the test that he is going to make us take, right guys?" She jumped up off the couch, nodding, "Yeah, I just tell him about Cooper and Sage! Oh, he won't be able to concentrate then!"

Cooper's eyes went wide, "Kakashi is your sensei?" She then shook her head, "Shit! This is not good!" She looked at Sage and then at Spoons, "He is going to be fair to you, isn't he?"

Spoons giggled, "Yeah, he was just mad when I told him that I told everyone that Sage had beaten him!"

Cye came walking into the room, a smile on his face, "Yeah, he is jealous of Sage, that is for sure, and I am not totally sure why. I mean, Cooper was not a good match for him anyway, and Sage won her heart fair and square." He then nodded, "Dinner's ready guys, come on, time to eat…"

"Food!" Kento chanted, much like Naruto was, "Food, food, food!"

Both Naruto and Kento ran for the dinning room, both racing each other to see who could win. Sage moaned as he heard a crash and then Naruto's and Kento's yells. "Who put this chair here?"

"What about the table?"

"Where's the food?"

"Yeah? Where's the food? I'm starving!"

Cooper giggled lightly, grabbing Sage's arm and pulling him up, "Well, come on then. Dinner calls and it won't wait for us with both Naruto and Kento in there!"

As dinner progressed, Ryo laughed at Sage as Cale said something to him, "You're in trouble now, Sage! His daughter isn't something you can take for a ride!"

Sage glared at Ryo, but Cooper beat him to the punch. She took a spoon full of rice and flung them at Ryo, squarely hitting him in the head. She laughed in victory, thrusting the spoon upwards, a triumphant look on her face, "I have beaten the almighty Wildfire! Whoop, whoop!" She pointed at him as he wiped the rice off of his face, "That will tell you never to mess with my future husband while I am in the vicinity, Ryo, won't it?" She then smiled even more, "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I have invited someone over for after dinner. I met her in the store this last weekend, and I wanted to get to know her better."

"What's her name?" Sage smiled.

"Her name is Liz, and she seemed great! I mean, we hit it off right there! She likes to read, and when she saw me, we started talking about my books. Wow, she is a great fan…" Cooper sighed dreamily.

888

A knock at the door had Ryo standing from the couch, "I'll get it." As he went to the door and opened it, his jaw fell.

A young woman was standing there, smiling. She was around five feet nine inches, her dark brown hair layered. "Hi!"

Uh…" Ryo mumbled, trying hard not to blush as her blue green eyes surveyed him closely.

"Ryo, is it Liz?" Cooper's voice entered his ears, causing him to shake his head and come back to reality.

"I'm here!" the young woman called from where she stood, giggling lightly at Ryo. She held out her hand, "My mane's Liz…"

Ryo took her hand gently, shaking it, a goofy smile coming to his face, "I'm Ryo." He noticed she wore Jounin pants and a white vest, signaling her as an ANBU member. He moved to the side, "Come on in, we were waiting for you!"

As Liz entered the house and came to the living room, Kento looked up at her. He smirked, pointing at her, "_That's_ Liz? Man, Cooper! I would have thought you would have picked someone that could defend herself…"

"Let me guess… Kento?" Liz smirked, rolling her eyes. She then looked at Cooper, "Just as you described him… He looks like a garbage disposal just from his looks!"

"HEY!" Kento yelled, jumping to his feet. As he lunged at her, she quickly disappeared, causing him to slam into a confused Ryo.

Ryo grunted as he saw Liz appear by Sage and Cooper, laughing uncontrollably. "Kento, get off me!" As he shoved Kento off of him, he looked at Cooper, "And you find this amusing?"

Indeed she did. She was laughing, grabbing onto Sage for dear life as she couldn't get air into her lungs. She quickly nodded her head before quelling her laughter and turning to Liz. She nodded, "Liz, I'd like you to meet the guys…" She quickly squeezed Sage's shoulder, "This is Sage…" She then nodded to Rowen, who was watching from his seat across the room, a book in front of him, "Rowen…" She looked at Ryo and Kento, "Of course Kento… and who could forget the Ronin leader Ryo?" She then swept her gaze to the three Warlords, who were standing and leaning against the wall, small smirks on their faces, "Oh, my father Cale… Sekhmet… and Dais!" She then seemed to remember something, "Oh! And Cye is in the kitchen, probably planning what the kids are going to have for breakfast tomorrow."

Liz's blue green gaze swept over everyone and stopped on Ryo, a small smile appearing on her face, which then she started giggling, "It's nice to meet you all! I'm Liz, as you already know!" She then looked back at Cooper, "So, are we up for tomorrow still?"

Cooper nodded, "Yeah, we are still to do rounds, all of us! This should be fun, what do you say?"

Liz nodded, "Yeah, it should be, I mean, these boys look like they can take care of anything!"

"You have no clue," Cooper smiled slyly to her, causing both of them to laugh quickly.

"So, who does Spoons have as her sensei?" Liz asked, curiously.

"Kakashi," Cooper mumbled.

Liz gasped, shaking her head, "Oh man, they are dead unless they know the underlying meaning of his test…"

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, walking towards her.

Liz smiled sweetly at him, "Well, Kakashi is all about teamwork, and when his test starts, he tries to break down the team so they fight amongst each other. I'm afraid no one has passed his tests in the history that he has been an instructor…"

"How do you know this?" Sekhmet asked, pushing from his resting place.

"Well, I live in the same apartment building as Kakashi, and we are friends, well, sort of. I mean, the man keeps to himself and reads those dirty novels. But don't worry. From what Cooper told me about her cousin, she should get through it fine." Liz giggled.

Cooper smirked as she watched Ryo eye Liz, "Hey Ryo, why don't you go with Liz? I mean, I promised that one of us would go out with her tonight, and as much as I want to, I can't. I have to get the kids ready for tomorrow. You're the only one who could keep a cool head, so what do you say?"

Liz looked at her and secretly smiled. Ryo blinked as he looked at Cooper, "You're serious?" At Cooper's nod, he laughed lightly, shrugging, "Well, I can't go against your judgment."

Cooper smiled as she leaned towards Liz, "I promised you a date, didn't I? Well, here's your chance, have fun with him…"

Sage laughed lightly after the two had left, pulling Cooper closer to him, "You are one in a million!"

"What?" Cooper asked, appearing innocent, "They were eying each other the entire time! I had to do something! Besides, Ryo secretly wanted her, you know it! You can't deny it!"

Sage laughed, shaking his head, "I have no comment!"

Cooper pointed at him, touching his nose, "Exactly!"

888

GDW: There you have it! And it seems Ryo has the eyes for Liz! Ha ha! Aww, isn't it sweet?

Sage: You know that he is going to defend himself if he hears you saying that, right?

GDW: **_shrugs:_** You'll be here to take care of me…

**_:Ryo walks into the room: _**So what if I have a crush on her? Can't a guy have one? I mean, seriously! Sage and Cooper seem to have a relationship going on, why can't I have one?

GDW: Who said you couldn't? I think it is adorable that the almighty Ronin leader has a crush! Don't worry Ryo… you'll see how things turn out.

Cale: Well then, now that _that_ is taken care of, can we proceed? Read and review people, I just love seeing her dance in her dorm room.


	6. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them… Although, I did steal them once… too bad I let them free again… Haha. 

**_A/N: Alright, here is chapter five for you all who are reading this. And thanks again to everyone who has reviewed._**

**_Oh, no Sage or Cale today. Both are sleeping after a hard German Circuit workout… Ha ha, I put them through hell and back with it, also screwing up my shoulder again!_**

_**Chapter Five**_

Spoons yawned as she rested on Sasuke, knowing that the boy wouldn't move her. She mumbled as she closed her eyes, "Why did he want us to be here at five in the morning? I mean, With Cooper and the others partying until who knows what time, we didn't get to bed until really late, and I am dying!"

"Well, at least Cye made us eat breakfast this morning, even though we were told not to," Sasuke smirked, wiping some hair out of Spoons' face, watching her as she tried to get some more rest.

"Yeah, Cye is a warrior," Spoons started before yawning. "He told me that even when you eat and train you won't throw up. Kento never does, and he eats right before he trains, and he trains hard…"

Naruto mumbled as he sat down in the grass, "Uhhh… where is Kakashi-sensei?"

Spoons snuggled even closer to Sasuke, a small smile appearing on her lips, "He'll be late, he always is…" With those words, she fell asleep, wrapping her arms around Sasuke and letting dreams overcome her. She knew that Sasuke wouldn't let anything happen to her, he never had when they were in school and all of the fan girls had wanted to beat her up.

Naruto smiled at Sasuke, "Hey, hey, Sasuke… you like Spoons, don't you?"

Sasuke glared at him, "She's a friend, Naruto!"

The two sat there in a companionable silence, letting Spoons sleep some more. She had talked to them this morning about a plan on how to get the bells, and they had all three agreed that they would work as a team.

Hours passed, they weren't sure how long, but Spoons suddenly yawned and awoke, snuggling her face closer to Sasuke's chest, a smile on her face as she yawned. "Hi fellows. Good morning." Kakashi's voice entered their ears.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at their late sensei. Spoons frowned and Naruto yelled. "You're late!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, "A black cat crossed my path, so…" He quieted down as he saw all three of their unsatisfied faces. He quickly cleared his throat, "Let's move on…" He walked over, setting an alarm clock on the log. He then set it, "Alarm set at 12 PM." He then held up two bells, "Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me." He shook them, "Whoever can't will have no lunch."

"What?" Naruto almost whined, but Spoons hit him.

Kakashi pointed to the three posts in the ground, "I'm going to tie you there and eat lunch in front of you."

Spoons smirked at him, "So that's why you said not to eat breakfast!"

"Why are there only two bells?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the left.

"Since there's only two, at least one of you will be tied to the log," Kakashi seemed to smile at them. "That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission." He shook the bells, "The person will go back to the Academy. It might just be one or all three. You can use your shuriken, or any other weapons you have with you." He then seemed to remember something, "You won't be able to get this unless you have the will to kill me."

As he palmed the bells, Spoons smirked, "Easy thought right there…"

"You're going to start after I say, 'Ready, go.'" Kakashi stated, eying all three.

Spoons rolled her eyes, pulling both Sasuke and Naruto in towards her, "Remember the plan?" As both nodded, she smiled, "Great. Naruto, you know what to do…"

Kakashi laughed at both of them, "I think I can finally start liking you three."

Spoons smirked at him as all three stepped away from each other, "Of course."

"We're going to start." Kakashi stated. "Ready, start!"

Spoons smirked and lunged at him, unsheathing the katanas that were on her back. Kakashi laughed outright at her, "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Keep making yourself laugh, Kakashi-sensei! You'll need the sense of humor where you're going!" Spoons yelled. A smirk came to her face, remembering all of the hours she had trained with her uncle.

_Sekhmet laughed lightly as Spoons watching in fascination while he completed his Snake Fang Strike attack. She smirked at him, "Teach me how to do that! That's awesome!"_

_Sekhmet shook his head, "Well, from what I have gathered from Iruka, you can use an illusionary technique…"_

_Spoons' face lit up at that, "I know how to do that! I can do that!"_

_Sekhmet nodded, "It is exactly what I do. If you can do that, then almost nothing will be able to see through you. You will be a force to be reckoned with."_

_"I'll just be lacking the poison on my swords," Spoons stuck her tongue out at him._

_"Well, what are you going to name it, if you can complete it?" Sekhmet chuckled._

_Spoons licked her lips, rolling her eyes as she unsheathed her katanas, "Hmm… how about Kakashi's Death?" She then laughed._

_Sekhmet shook his head, "Be serious, Spoons…"_

_"Oh, alright… um… How about…Oblivion?" Spoons mumbled._

_Sekhmet nodded, "That sounds good…"_

Spoons dodged Kakashi as he tried to grab her, "You won't know what hit you after you experience this!" She then screamed, crossing her katanas across her chest and then swiping them out.

Kakashi's eyes went wide as he noticed Spoons now seemed to have six arms with six katanas. She then lunged at him, brandishing all katanas out, "You will now taste Oblivion!"

"It isn't possible!" Kakashi mumbled, jumping away from her, but still, one of her arm and katanas cut his leg. He put his hands together, forming a seal, "Kai!" He waited for the illusion to disappear, but it didn't.

Spoons stuck her tongue out at him as she stopped, "Uh, these aren't illusions, buddy! Every single one of these are real!" She then lunged forward, screaming, "Naruto! Now!"

Fifteen Narutos appeared around Kakashi, all grabbing onto him and holding him strong. "What?" Kakashi asked, confused. "Shadow Clones?"

"Sasuke!" Spoons screamed as she swiped at Kakashi, hoping to cut the bells from him.

Sasuke appeared behind her, quickly forming hand seals. He then took a deep breath, "Fire element: Blazing Fireball!"

Kakashi's eyes went wide as this was happening, "What? That technique isn't something a Genin can do… He doesn't have enough chakra!"

Sasuke then cupped his hand in front of his lips, blowing out and forming a huge fireball that flew towards Spoons' back and Kakashi. Sasuke yelled, "Spoons! Now!"

Spoons flashed a genuine smile at Kakashi, spinning out of the way quickly. The fireball flamed over Kakashi and the Narutos hanging onto him. "Sasuke!" Spoons yelled, spinning around and causing something to fly towards him.

Sasuke quickly jumped up and caught whatever it was, a smirk coming to his face as he noticed it was the two bells. Naruto appeared beside him, "Did we get it?"

Sasuke looked at Spoons, watching as her six arms disappeared to just two. She quickly sheathed her katanas and stumbled forward, "Oblivion was always a last resort… Uncle Sekhmet told me that…"

Kakashi appeared in front of her, catching her as she collapsed. He shook his head, "The timer hasn't even gone off and you are already out of energy…"

Spoons closed her eyes, too weak to think of anything but rest. Sekhmet had warned her that until she was properly trained in the art of illusion by Dias she would be exhausted after one use.

Naruto and Sasuke, as one, charged at Kakashi, trying to get him to let Spoons go. Sasuke growled, wrapping his arms around Spoons and pulling her into his grip as Naruto tried to attack Kakashi. "Naruto!" Sasuke grunted as he retreated a little ways away. Naruto at once appeared beside him.

The alarm went off, and Kakashi shook his head, disappointment in his eye, "It seems that all three of you fail…"

Sasuke smirked, holding up the two bells, "But we completed the mission. We retrieved the bells…"

Kakashi laughed lightly, "Well then, who passes and who fails? That is your new mission. Decide amongst yourselves who is going to be sent back to the Academy and who will go on…"

Spoons opened her eyes, a frown on her face. Naruto held a frown as well, and Sasuke held anger in his eyes. All three stated at the same time, "We succeed as a team and we fail as a team!"

Spoons stumbled forward, a glare on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, "We've come to the conclusion that if you want to send just one of us back, then you send us all! We are a team, and teams stick together through thick and thin! My family has taught me that!"

Naruto stepped up beside her, a determined look in his eyes, "Yeah!"

Sasuke shrugged as he came forward, "I agree."

"Never leave a teammate behind, not even when they tell you to go on! You stand together! Three is better than two!" Spoons yelled at Kakashi, angered that he would actually tell them to break themselves down.

Kakashi laughed, closing his eye and shaking his head, "In that case…" All three Genin tensed, all thinking that they would be returned to the Academy. "You all pass!" Kakashi nodded.

888

Ryo yawned as he perched on a tree branch, "Are you sure this is what we were required to do?"

Cooper hissed at him to quiet down, "Teams of five, around the border, keep an eye out for any foreign ninja that are in the vicinity!" She then smirked, "Besides, it was your fault that you decided to stay out the entire night almost to spend it with Liz!"

Cale smirked, "We are almost done, Cooper, and then you can go back to your bed…"

Liz snuggled into Ryo's chest even more, yawning much like he had, "I can't help it that we hit it off! I mean, seriously! The man is drop dead gorgeous and sexy!

"Yeah, and I can make sure that you are most comfortable," Sage smirked at Cooper as well, winking. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards his chest, kissing her neck, "Don't worry, it's almost done…"

Cooper held her moan in, closing her eyes, "Sage, stop it!"

Liz giggled, "Keep it in a room, you two!"

Cale chuckled, "Let's go. We have to report to the Hokage that the coast is clear."

Cooper frowned as she thought she heard something. She then shrugged when she didn't hear it again. "Yeah, let's go."

They quickly made their way back to Konoha, entering the Third's office as the rest did. Cooper smirked at them all, "Anything?"

"Clear," Everyone shrugged.

Cooper sighed, nodding, "Same here. It's weird. There was no movement whatsoever… not even from the…" Her eyes went wide, "Oh gods!" She quickly spun around and ran for the door, "Guys, come on! We totally missed it all!"

"What are you talking about? Kento asked, confused.

"Think about it, dumpster!" Liz rolled her eyes, giggling lightly. Kento frowned at her for a moment.

"When is a forest ever _that_ quiet?" Cooper asked, running out of the room.

"She has a point," Ryo nodded, following her after he had grabbed Liz. "Let's go guys!"

As they exited Konoha, Cooper looked at them, "Split up! If you find anything, you know what to do. Contact someone else before engaging, understood?" Everyone nodded, and disappeared up into the treetops, leaving Cooper standing there with Liz, looking around herself.

For some odd reason, she had this feeling that something was going on that shouldn't be, and that it was desperate that she find what it was. A thought struck her then, since she was with Liz… She didn't have the ability to talk to the others in her mind like they could. She cursed herself, thinking that she had been stupid for that thought.

She quickly spun as she heard something land behind her, only to have her eyes go wide in fear. Standing there was an older looking version of Sasuke. She took a step back, shaking her head. His eyes, they drew her towards him, and she couldn't stop herself from walking forward.

Liz yelled, "Cooper! No! Get away from him!" But as she stared at him, she was drawn in as well, her eye glazing over slightly.

In another part of the forest, Ryo jumped down from the tree he was in, seeing Sage. The bearer of Halo was looking at the ground, a frown on his face. "What's up, Sage?"

"Someone was camped here for a short while… I can see the ashes of a fire that they tried to conceal," Sage grunted, looking up at Ryo.

"How long ago, do you know?" Ryo asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"I'd say not even a couple hours," Sage nodded.

A scream echoed in their ears and through the forest, and both looked at each other with fear. "Cooper!" They yelled, at once jumping into the trees and heading towards the scream. Both were destined to save her, no matter the consequences.

Ryo frowned, "Liz was with her! Oh god!"

Cooper screamed once again in pain, collapsing forward into Itachi's awaiting arms. He looked down upon her with an emotionless face, "I do not see what he wants with you. You have no talent whatsoever." He then looked at Liz's unconscious form in his companion's grip, "And she will have to come with us as well…"

"Cale," Cooper's hoarse voice tried to yell, only to result in a whisper, "help…"

Kisame laughed, "She continues to struggle, Itachi!"

Cooper tried to push Itachi away from her, whimpering slightly, her eyes drooping in pain and exhaustion, "Liz, Liz, come on…" She had never though that Itachi's genjutsu could be so excruciatingly painful. But now that she had experienced it firsthand, she never thought she would be the same again.

Within moments, they were surrounded by the Ronins and Warlords, all of which were in their armor, their face guards down. Cale took a step forward, snarling, his words echoing in the clearing they were in, "Let her go!"

Ryo snarled as well, "Let Liz go!"

Sage brandished his nodatchi in front of him, "Step away from her!"

"What's this?" Kisame asked, holding his sword forward. "We were never told that she would be guarded!"

"Guarded is the understatement of the year, buddy!" Ryo yelled at him, unsheathing his katanas. "You've pissed off the Ronin Warriors by touching her! And you've pissed me off even more by touching Liz!"

"Not to mention us!" Dias snarled, pulling his scy out.

Sekhmet pulled both of his swords out, his eyes narrowing, "Put both on the ground gently and leave, that is our only warning to you! If you do not cooperate, we will be forced to fight you!"

Itachi smirked slightly, "You fight us, they dies!"

Sage's eyes went wide, and his grip on his nodatchi loosened considerably, "Please, don't hurt her…" He powered down into just subarmor, holding his hands forward in peace, "Please, don't do anything to her!"

Kisame smirked, holding his sword up to Cooper's throat as Itachi held her, "Don't make any movements or I will kill her."

Sage dropped his hands to his sides, clenching them greatly. Cale snarled, and Rowen shook his head, "You shouldn't have said that… You'll have to deal with her father now, and he is never in a good mood when it deals with Cooper getting hurt!"

Itachi moved away from Kisame, glaring at him. His voice was laced with anger, "They want her alive, Kisame, not dead!"

Dias seemed to disappear, and none of the Ronins or other two Warlords paid any attention to it. Cye took a step forward, "Please, let us have Cooper back. We don't want to fight. We'll let you go…"

"Don't forget Liz! We want her back as well!" Ryo yelled.

"We were required to capture her and take her back to our boss," Kisame smirked at them, his teeth causing Cye to blink.

Cye frowned, becoming angered, something that didn't happen too often. Kento shrugged, "That's it!" He then lunged at Itachi, only to have Itachi disappear in a cloud of smoke. Kento screamed, "Ah! Where did he go?"

As Kisame made to run, Dias appeared in front of him, a frown on his face along with a glare in his eyes. "Where are you taking my niece?"

Kisame flashed a smile at him before swiping his sword towards Dias. Dias quickly jumped far enough away to not be harmed, but on doing so, Kisame vanished. Sage yelled out in remorse and pain, running forward and falling to his knees. He then slammed his fists off of the ground where Kisame and Itachi had been, "NO! NO! BRING HER BACK!"

Ryo screamed as well, throwing his katanas away from himself, "LIZ! NO!"

Rowen knelt down beside his best friend, "We'll get her back, Sage, don't worry. And she's strong. She won't let them do anything to her…"

"They took her, Rowen," Sage mumbled, looking at his hands, "and I couldn't stop them!" Tears came to his eyes as he shut them, "I was supposed to protect her! I am going to marry her! She was supposed to be safe now!"

Cale came up beside him, placing his hand on Sage's shoulder, "We'll get her back, Sage, on my word."

"We have to tell the Hokage about this! We'll find her, even if we need to get every ninja in Konoha to help us!" Ryo growled, powering down and taking a step forward.

"We can't tell Spoons about this, guys, she will be devastated if she finds out her cousin was kidnapped…" Cye mumbled.

"Oh man!" Rowen mumbled, putting his hand over his face, "I forgot about Spoons!" He then sighed, "This is going to be hard trying to think of something to say to her to explain Cooper's disappearance…"

"Forget about that," Sekhmet mumbled, watching how Sage seemed to be falling apart. "Right now we need to worry about Sage…"

888

Spoons moaned as Sasuke helped her onto the living room in her house, "That hurts… I hurt all over…"

Sasuke chuckled lightly, shaking his head, "Well, get some deserved rest. We start mission tomorrow."

At that moment, everyone returned home, a sadness in the way they were walking and hanging their heads. Sage, most of all, looked worse for wear. He didn't even say hello to them as he made his way past them and to the stairs.

Spoons frowned, looking for her cousin, "Where's Cooper, Uncle Sekhmet?"

Sekhemt cleared his voice, trying to sound calm, "She's… uh…"

"Talking to the Third," Rowen mumbled. He then turned to Cye, "How about you start dinner, Cye? I'm sure these two are hungry."

Spoons looked at Sasuke, her eyes filled with confusion, "Why would Cooper still be with the Third? You guys never let her out of your sight, especially Sage. And why is he so sad?"

"How about we go train until dinner?" Sekhemt asked, looking at Spoons with a sad smile.

Spoons blinked, "What's going on, guys? Come on, tell me!"

"Training," Sekhmet mumbled, nodding.

Spoons looked at Sasuke, who just shrugged. She then sighed, "Alright, we'll train. But after this is done, I want an explanation on this!"

888

Itachi looked at the unconscious form of Cooper, contemplating why the leader of the Akatsuki would want _her_ of all beings. Kisame was sitting across the fire from him, silent. Liz's unconscious form was lying beside Cooper. Itachi would only admit to himself that Cooper had put up a good fight in his genjutsu. She had fought him to the bitter end. She had a strong defense against his genjutsu, even if she didn't know it.

"What is so special about her?" Itachi heard Kisame's question.

Itachi had wondered it himself, but upon seeing the warriors that accompanied her, he thought that was the reason the leader wanted her. Itachi's speculation was that the leader wanted control over the warriors, and if he had the girl, he could have the warriors. It was a plan that had many flaws in it, not to mention there was another that they both had to capture.

"One will never know," Itachi mumbled, looking down into the fire in front of him. He then poured himself a cup of tea, looking over at Cooper.

Cooper moaned and turned. She wanted to stay in the darkness, it didn't pain her or bring her to any realizations, but her body was telling her otherwise. As she tried to move her arms, she noticed that she couldn't. Her eyes quickly snapped open at that, and she began screaming.

A hand slammed over her mouth, the voice by her ear sending shivers down her spine, both pleasurable and frightening, "I suggest that you do not scream anymore if you wish to live longer."

Cooper noticed that her hands were tied together, and that Itachi was the one that had quieted her down. As she tried to wriggle around, her body hissed at her and she closed her eyes in pain. It was pleading with her to just go back to sleep, that she needed the rest, but she just couldn't sleep with what had happened.

Itachi let her mouth go, a smirk on his face, "Much better."

Cooper opened her eyes, unshed tears there, "What do you want from me?" She then saw Liz beside her, "And why Liz?"

Itachi leaned closer to her, nose to nose, "Call your warriors. Scream yourself dead. It pleases me to hear you scream…"

Cooper's eyes widened as she understood the underlying fact in that sentence. She remembered the time he had her trapped in his genjutsu. A shiver ran through her body, and more tears fell down her face, silencing her.

Itachi smirked at her, knowing what she was remembering. He caressed her cheek, chuckling lightly as she winced but didn't move away, "You are starting to learn. The more you fight, the more pain you will feel."

Cooper's eyes flashed, and she quickly pulled away from him, biting his hand. Itachi looked at it and then her, noticing the defiance in her eyes. She snarled at him, baring her teeth, "They _will_ find me, and when they do, you will wish that you hadn't taken me! My fiancé will be totally pissed!"

Itachi grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him and quiet down, "Call them! I dare you to! Call them right to us!" He shook her roughly, "Call them!"

Liz became conscious at those words, and she looked around herself, noticing that she was tied up and could not do anything. She then hissed to Cooper, "Don't do it, Cooper! Please! It will only make things worse!"

Cooper's eyes slid closed, trying to think of how to call the Ronins to her along with the Warlords. She then opened her eyes, glaring at him, "I won't do it! You want them, and I am not going to bring them here!"

Itachi growled at her, "Then you will just have to answer to our leader."

"Before you reach there, we'll be gone from your grasp!" Cooper glared at him, not startled in the least that he could do anything he wanted. "I bet they're all searching for us at this very moment! I'm betting that every ninja in Konoha has been alerted by your presence and is desperately out to find us!"

888

Sage growled as sat down at the dinner table. Cale and Ryo had gone to the Third, hoping to strike up a rescue party in search of Cooper and Liz. They wouldn't take Sage with them, knowing that he was too emotionally unstable at the time.

Cye sighed as he came into the dining room, "Sage, we'll find her, don't worry. We'll get her back!"

"But what if we don't?" Sage asked, looking up at Cye, "And if we do get her back, what if she is changed? What if she doesn't want to come back to us… what if…"

"So many what ifs!" Dias yelled as he came into the room. "It's hard to think that you were once confident!"

"I'm worried about her, guys… and I desperately miss her!" Sage moaned, slamming his head down on the table.

Cale came into the room, sighing heavily, "Well, the Hokage says that he is going to be putting his best ninja on the job, and that we are to report to his office tomorrow morning at five to meet with everyone."

Ryo came walking in as well, looking around, "Where's Spoons?" He was stressed out about the disappearance of Liz as much as Sage was about Cooper, but he kept his under control.

"I told her to stay at Sasuke's house tonight. It was the only way to get her to stop asking about Cooper," Sekhmet mumbled as he slouched down into a chair and closed his eyes.

"What do they want with her?" Rowen asked, trying to comprehend why they would take Cooper.

Sage looked up from the table, sweeping his gaze across everyone, "She can control us, guys, all of us…" At their quizzical looks, a sad smile came to his face, "She calls upon us and we are there, just as when the ninja summon something it comes to aid them. If they have her, they have us, in a sense…"

"Then why Liz?" Ryo growled slightly.

"She was conveniently with Cooper at the time of her capture, that's why. Another hostage," Rowen mumbled, knowing how sensitive the room had gotten on the conversation.

"But they don't have us, so how can she call upon us?" Kento scratched his head, confused.

"Leave it to Cooper to figure out a way, and she will," Rowen smiled.

Ryo blinked, "I wonder if there is a way to call us to herself. If there was, we could save her!"

"She isn't going to call upon us if she can, Ryo," Sage mumbled, holding his head in his hands, "She knows that they want us, and she wants to keep us safe. She's smart, you know that."

888

Liz smirked at Itachi and Kisame, "Are we there yet?"

Cooper smirked as well, "Are we there yet?"

Kisami growled at both of them, "No."

"Are we there yet?" Both young women asked at the same time.

"NO!" Kisame yelled back at them, a threatening tone in his voice.

"Can you show us something cool?" Cooper asked.

"No," Kisame sighed.

"Do you like shark soup?" Liz giggled.

As Kisame snarled at her, Cooper turned her attention to Itachi, "How many throwers from a track team does it take to unlock and lock a gate?" Itachi glared at her, and Cooper just smiled, "Three, but technically eight if you count all the different things they have to do!"**(1)**

When Itachi turned his attention away from them, Cooper turned to Liz, "Mission accomplished… Bug Kisame until he snarls at us, and have Itachi ignore us! Next mission…"

"Get Itachi to smile in a good way…" Liz giggled.

Cooper's eyebrows rose at that, "Uh, that one truly _is_ Mission Impossible!"

Kisame hissed at Itachi, "Can I kill the one…"

"You kill her and the other will not call upon her warriors." Itachi grunted back, ignoring the two young women as they planned between the two of them. "Do not let them get to you, Kisame, understand me?"

"He's kinda sexy looking if you take away the evil…"

"Naw, Sage is so much better!"

"Well, I mean, I would never give up Ryo, but if you were to give me three weeks with the unemotional man, I would have all the girls swooning over him in no time…"

As Itachi clenched his fists, Kisame smirked at him, "Don't let them get to you, huh? It seems you should be taking your own advice, Itachi."

The two giggled as they put their head together and lowered their voices, but Itachi still heard them. "I've got some makeup with me…"

"Yeah, let's do it tonight when he goes to sleep! We'll make him look drop dead gorgeous so that the next time we head into a town all the girls will swoon over him in no time…"

"They are planning something," Kisame eyed the two. "I don't…"

"They are _not_ touching me!" Itachi snarled.

Both girls gave a high five, "Mission accomplished! Again!"

Cooper laughed, holding her abdomen, "These two are way too easy!"

"You're telling me? These two were supposed to be feared in almost every country! And here they are, getting beat by me and you! That's not much for their claim to fame!" Liz giggled uncontrollably.

888

There you have it! Chapter Five! Now be good readers and review so I know what you think about all of it! Have fun, and I hoped you liked it!

(1)As for that statement: It's true... trust me. I mean, it happened to me at practice Friday! Ha ha, that was a blast!


	7. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Uh, do I have to do this again? I mean, seriously, you've seen it 6 times…

A/N: OH MY GOD! So sorry, everyone! College is just hectic! And I need to get at least a 3.0 by the end of this semester… damn track meets and classes! But oh well. Here's chapter 6 for ya!

_**Chapter Six**_

Spoons frowned, shaking Sasuke awake, "Sasuke, wake up! Come on!"

Sasuke yawned and opened his eyes, looking at his clock to see that it was four thirty in the morning. He then looked at Spoons, noticing that she was dressed and ready for something, "Spoons, what are you doing? It's four in the morning, and we don't even have to meet for our missions until eight…"

"Spoons!" Naruto's whining voice caught Sasuke's attention, causing him to glare at Spoons.

Spoons frowned even more, "Get up! We have to get up!"

"Why?" Sasuke yawned once again.

"Something's happened to my cousin, and I want to know what!" Spoons yelled in his ear, causing him to fall out of his bed.

"Spoons, why did you have to wake me up and drag me here?" Naruto yawned as he appeared at the door.

"The best ninja in the village are meeting at the Hokage's office at five, and with them are going to be my family. Something happened to my cousin, and I want to know what!" Spoons screamed, causing Sasuke to jump up and grab stuff to get ready. She then nodded, "We are going to be there, I want to know what's up!"

888

The Ronins and Warlords stood in the Hokage's meeting area, all wide awake and suited up in their armor. The Hokage himself was sitting in his chair, as awake as he had ever been in his life.

The Jounin behind them all were mumbling amongst themselves, wondering why they had been called. "I have called all of you here for an important cause!" The Hokage started.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed his three Genin sneaking amongst the shadows. Cale cleared his throat, catching Kakashi's attention, "My daughter, Cooper, has been kidnapped. Along with her was a ninja from this village, Liz. We were on patrol yesterday when they were attacked."

The Hokage nodded his head, "It seems that Itachi has come back and has kidnapped Cooper and Liz against their will. I will not let him have them! We are to search for them immediately!"

Spoons' gasp caught the attention of everyone in the room, and they all looked at her, Naruto, and Sasuke. Spoons' eyes filled with tears as she glared at the Ronins and Warlords. She pointed at them, screaming, "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret?" Her voice became louder as she stomped towards them, "That's why you told me to sleep at Sasuke's last night! You didn't want me to find out that Cooper wasn't coming home!"

Sasuke seemed angered as well, clenching his fists, "My _brother_ was the one that did this?"

Ryo shook his hands in front of him as Spoons lunged at him, "Easy! Easy, Spoons!" He slammed into the ground with her on top of him. She started banging on his breastplate, "We didn't want you to run after her!"

Kakashi came forward and pulled Spoons from Ryo's chest, only to have Spoons scream even more. "She could be dead! She could be hurt! And you didn't tell me!"

Sekhmet's voice was soft and almost silent, but Spoons heard every word. "They won't kill her, Spoons. They captured her to get to us."

Sage had stayed silent this whole time, his eyes squeezed shut and his fists clenched at his sides. As Spoons started screaming even more, he couldn't take it anymore. He yelled, causing everyone to become silent all at once, "SHUT UP!" Everyone looked at him, including Spoons, and he shook his head, "Arguing amongst ourselves isn't going to bring my fiancé back. The more time we waste here, the slimmer the chance of actually finding her!" He then pointed at Kakashi before pointing at Spoons, Naruto, and Sasuke, "Keep these three as far away from this case as you can! We don't need Spoons being kidnapped as well. And a feeling in my gut tells me that they are after her as well!"

"But!" Spoons yelled.

"No!" Sage yelled back. "Leave this to us, Spoons. You're a Genin now, you have missions of your own that you have to do, so do them!"

Spoons cried freely, not caring that everyone was watching her, "Why are you being like this, Sage? She's _my_ cousin! I think I should be able to…"

Sage shook his head quickly, his voice raising and causing Spoons to wince, "No! That is the end of the discussion! You are staying here to complete your missions! Leave this to us so you stay safe! Cooper would most definitely hate herself if you were harmed in any way because she was kidnapped!"

With that, he nodded to the other Ronins and Warlords, "Let's go, guys. We have to start searching!"

888

Cooper kept her shout of pain in as Itachi threw her down on the floor of the room that they were in. She kept her head lowered, not wanting anyone else to look at her. It had been days since she had been captured, and Itachi and Kisame had taken her out of the Fire country, she knew that much.

A laughter hit her ears, causing her to look up sharply. Red eyes. They looked like Kurenai's, but she knew they weren't hers. "You have brought me what I have wished, Itachi!"

A light scream beside her caused her to look over, only to see Liz. She was battered and bruised, much like she was, and both knew that it would be hell.

Cooper glared at him, but her glare held no true bite. She was drained, had been drained since Itachi had used his technique on her. She would never call for her family for this man, never!

The leader of the Akatsuki shook his head, "Feisty, isn't she?"

Cooper screamed at him, "I'll never do what you want me to!"

Itachi kicked her forward, causing her to quiet down and slam fully into the floor. Cooper kept her tears at bay, wanting to make them think that she was strong and not weak. The leader leaned forward, and Cooper could tell he was smiling, "Oh, you'll call them to me, over time. You'll wear down and call them to aid you. And they will answer, just as they always have done…" He then nodded to Itachi, "Put her in a cell. She'll stay there."

"What of the other one?" Kisame asked.

Cooper glared even more at the leader, and he laughed, "Separate them. Let us see how she does without her companion!"

After Cooper had been put in a cell and left alone, she pulled her knees to her chest and let her tears fall down her face. She started rocking herself back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut, reciting the Ronin Poem.

_"Torch and Spirit sought through five,_

_The last defense to keep humanity alive,_

_The quest begins in the hour most dire,_

_Drinking strength from immortal fire._

_Evil pressures good with all its might,_

_From the darkest prison sheds the light._

_Find the third warrior, for evil must halt,_

_Sleeping beneath a churning pillar of salt._

_Time is running short; it's escaping the clock,_

_Seek the next warrior, buried within a throne of rock._

_Find the fifth warrior, when hope seems to die,_

_Floating among the eyes of the ages, unmourned in the sea of the sky…"_

Her voice seemed to become just a tad bit louder, a more surreal sound to it as well. "Unite them together, five to make one…" A dark green light started to flow around her. "Then bring back the other four, and victory is won…"

She then closed her eyes, her tears falling down her face even more, but she felt more relieved. Her eyes slid closed once more, and this time, she fell into a deep sleep.

_Cooper looked around her, seeing that she was in what reminded her of the inside of a battleship for the navy. Steam hissed out at her from pipes in the walls, but it was dark, even quiet._

_Something possessed her to walk forward, and she did so without any knowledge of doing so. She let her feet take her down the many different turns and corners, knowing that something was possessing her to do so. Doors littered the hallways that she walked down, but she never touched them. _

_A part of her decided that it was best not to try and test the doors, so her feet continued on. Finally, when she thought she had been walking for hours, her feet finally stopped. She looked up, noticing that she was in a huge room, and water was flooding the floor. As she stepped down into the room, the water rushed up to her ankles, but Cooper paid no heed to it. A huge cell door across the room caught her attention._

_The door was taller than what she could comprehend, and even upon leaning her head back she couldn't see the top. A huge chain wound its way across the door though, keeping it locked tightly. A sense of need filled Cooper, and she desperately walked forward, the water not hindering her. She needed to see what was in the cage, and she would stop at nothing to find out._

_When the water started rising on her, she continued forward, not retaliating one bit. The water flowed up past her knees, yet she still walked forward. "Almost… there…" Cooper mumbled, wading through the water._

_By the time she made it to the front of the cage, the water was to her chest. She frowned, "What is in there that you don't want me to see? What is it?"_

_A deep female voice brought the answers to her questions, "You will soon find out, young one…"_

_The water started to recede from the room, causing Cooper to sigh in relief. Once the water was gone, Cooper looked back at the cage. She almost screamed in fright as two huge golden eyes, much like a wolf's, were staring back at her. The darkness in the cage seemed to dissipate somewhat, and Cooper could make out the face of a huge wolf. A dark green colored light surrounded it._

_It growled slightly, the voice of the female sounding from it, "Child, come closer."_

_Cooper's eyes narrowed, "What makes me know that I can trust you?"_

_But nonetheless, her feet took her forward. As she stopped in front of the cage, the wolf's jaws snapped around the metal, almost snapping the bar in two. It snarled. "I want freedom, but this cage is holding me back!"_

_Cooper frowned, "You're like the nine tails, aren't you?"_

_"The nine tailed fox?" the wolf snarled at her, its jaws gnawing on the bar in its mouth. "That power hungry demon is nothing like me! Unlike him, who could care less about his vessel, I care much so for you! Why do you think you have been kept alive all of this time?"_

_"How do I know I can trust you?" Cooper eyed the wolf demon rather closely. "How do I know that you aren't going to take over my body for your own if I set you free?"_

_"Unlike the seal that was used to contain the nine tails, my seal is quite different." The wolf lowered its head to be level with Cooper. "When I was sealed into your body, I gave up the option to take it for my own. I traveled from this world to yours, searching for the right vessel. I found it in you. You were strong, no matter what happened." It closed its eyes, "The only thing I could do would be to roam around in your mind, where you were just a little bit ago. If you were in trouble, you could take on my appearance if you so wished, but would not be able to hold it for very long…"_

_"I still don't trust you," Cooper mumbled, but walked closer to the cage door._

_"Child, I could have taken over your body when you were a child, but I did not, did I? You had no problems. You had my strength, you had my knowledge, and you had my company." The wolf almost purred._

_Cooper put her hand inside the cage, down on the wolf's nose. The wolf did not move, and Cooper looked into its eyes carefully, "You swear to me on my life, that if I were to release you I would not be taken over?"_

_"You have my word, child, and I never go back with it. I will be here if you need me, but I will not take over you without your command." The wolf closed it eyes in pleasure. "You will have my chakra as well, something that you will need to get accustomed to. It will feel weird holding power."_

_The dark green glow that was surrounding the wolf seemed to slink across the ground before wrapping around Cooper. She yelped for a moment as the green chakra constricted around her, but then it absorbed into her body. Cooper placed a hand on the cage, only to have the chains on it shatter…_

Cooper awoke screamed and grabbing her abdomen in pain. It was almost unbearable. It flared through her body like nothing she had ever experienced, and she wished it would stop. She screamed again, thrashing around on the floor of her cell, "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Footsteps echoed in Cooper's mind, but she did nothing to stop her screaming and thrashing. The pain was too much to bear, and she didn't care if anyone saw her. The door to her cell quickly opened, and someone grabbed her, holding her down and still. She screamed again, trying to pull at their grip, "Make the pain stop! Please!" Tears fell down her face unchecked, "Please! It's killing me!"

The person slammed her into the ground even more, their voice registering in her mind, "Cease your actions!"

The pain flared at the sudden act, and her scream died in her throat. Her eyesight became blurry, and she ceased her thrashing. The person was smiling; she could hear it in their words, "Good. Very good. You will stay alive if you continue to listen…"

Cooper snarled at that, lunging onto the person and biting their arm. It registered in Cooper's mind that she was attacking Itachi, but she was enraged. Itachi flung her across the cell, causing her to slam into the ground and then fall to the floor.

Cooper started mumbling, a dark green aurora appearing around her. "Torch and spirit sought through five… The last defense to keep humanity alive…The quest begins in the hour most dire… Drinking strength from immortal fire…"

Itachi kicked her, causing her to grunt in pain and grab her side. Her mumbling stopped, and he smirked down at her, "What were you hoping to do?"

A red aurora appeared in back of him, the room heating up exponentially. Within seconds, Ryo was standing there in his armor, his katanas unsheathed and looking around. "What the…" His eyes went wide as he saw Itachi and Cooper.

Cooper yelled, sadness in her eyes, "No! No! No!" She shook her head, "I didn't want to summon him!"

Itachi laughed as Ryo lunged forward, hoping to move him away from Cooper. Itachi quickly vanished in a puff of smoke and the cell door slammed shut. Itachi was standing on the other side, a smirk on his face as Ryo powered down, "It seems we have one in our possession."

Cooper sobbed as Ryo pulled her into his grip, "No! No! I didn't want to call you! If I would have known that it would have brought you here, I would have never recited it!"

Ryo rocked her back and forth, "Easy, Cooper, it's alright. We were searching for you… You're safe now. I'm here…"

"That's what they want!" Cooper sobbed. She then shook her head, "I thought it would calm my soul, I never thought it could summon all of you!"

"Take deep breaths," Ryo advised. As Cooper seemed to settle in his grip, he asked her, "How did I get here?"

Cooper winced at that, knowing that if she had just kept her mouth shut, then it would have never happened. Her eyes squeezed shut, "I started reciting the Ronins Poem. I only got to your line, and then Itachi kicked me, causing me to go silent." She shook her head, "You cannot allow me to summon anyone else, Ryo! They can't be caught as well…"

The door opened, and the next thing both knew, Cooper was being held off the floor by her throat as Ryo was dragged out of the cell. Ryo struggled roughly, knowing that Cooper needed him to stay with her. She was afraid, and he knew that she would probably recite the other lines of the poem if he wasn't with her.

"Cooper!" Ryo yelled. "Cooper, just don't recite it! Keep faith! I'll get us out of this!"

Cooper cried, prying at the person's grip on her throat, "Ryo! Ryo! Don't leave me!"

The Akatsuki leader, the one holding her off the ground by her throat, laughed, leaning in towards her, "It seems you have found a way to summon them, have you?" He smiled evilly at her, "If you summon the rest of them, then we shall withhold from harming you anymore…"

Cooper's eyes flashed golden like a wolf's, and she snarled before thrashing wildly in his grip. He quickly threw her to the opposite side of the cell and walked out, not even looking back at her.

Cooper sobbed, pulling her knees up to her chest and rocking herself back and forth, "Drinking strength from immortal fire… Drinking strength from immortal fire…"

Two seconds later, Ryo appeared in her cell again, looking around wildly before noticing Cooper in the corner. He quickly ran to her, pulling her into his grip, "I don't think I'll get used to the feeling of being summoned…"

Cooper buried her face into Ryo's chest, knowing that she now had a link to him, even if they did take him away. The leader appeared at the cell door, and Ryo growled at him. The leader glared in at them, "It seems I have no choice but to leave you with her. She would just summon you back if we were to take you away." He then smirked, "You will fight for me now…"

"Hell no!" Ryo yelled. "I don't fight for anyone but myself, especially if they harm my best friend's fiancé!" He then snarled, "And especially when they toss Liz back in Konoha unconscious and barely alive!"

"You will soon change your mind, warrior," the leader laughed before walking away, leaving Ryo to comfort Cooper in any way that he could.

He rocked her back and forth, trying to reach the others at the same time. _– Guys, can you hear me? Any one? – _

_**- Ryo, is that you? –** _The voice of Rowen entered his mind.

_- Rowen! –_ Ryo's mind seemed to yell in joy.

**­_- Where are you? You just vanished! We are all worried! First Cooper, now you… Who's next? – _**

_- Well, think of the poem… - _Ryo looked down at Cooper, noticing that she seemed to be falling asleep. _– Rowen, she can summon us with the Ronin Poem! She's holding strong, guys, but I'm afraid that she might not last for too long… -_

**_- Do you know where you are? Describe your surroundings! – _**Rowen's voice yelled to him.

**_- Ryo! Is Cooper still safe? Was she harmed? Have they hurt her? – _**Sage's frantic voice entered his mind.

Ryo sighed, holding Cooper closer to himself. _– She's safe, they haven't hurt her to the point where I can see something right now. We're in a cell, that's what it is, and as they dragged me out of her cell, I noticed that we were underground. That's all I can really tell you guys, sorry. But now I need to comfort Cooper and I need some sleep… Being summoned really takes a lot out of you… I must be quite a bit from where we were… - _

Cooper looked up at Ryo with half lidded eyes, sleep clouding them, "Ryo?"

Ryo smiled down at her, holding her tightly, "It's alright, Cooper. I'm right here. I'm not going to let you go, I promise…"

"Don't let me say the poem," Cooper mumbled, her eyes sliding closed and falling into a light sleep.

Ryo smiled sweetly down at her, "Don't worry, Cooper, I won't let you." With that, he closed his eyes as well and fell into a very light sleep.

888

Cooper's scream awoke Ryo. It had been, what he thought to be, four days from when he had been summoned to her. He looked around, only to see that she wasn't in the cell with him. In fact, the cell that he was in wasn't the one that Cooper and him shared.

A tingling sensation filled his body, and an urgent need to rescue also filled his heart. His kanji on his forehead glowed quickly before he felt what seemed like his body ripping apart. He quickly closed his eyes, and upon opening them, he was in another cell, Itachi holding Cooper up by her throat off the ground.

As Ryo ran forward, Kisame grabbed him, slamming him into the cell wall. Ryo cried out in pain, and Kisame smirked, "Keep going, Itachi. This time around she isn't going to get his help!"

Itachi slammed Cooper into the cell wall even more, "Say the rest! Summon the others!"

Cooper sobbed, tears falling down her face. The pain was too much, and she desperately needed help. "Drinking strength from immortal fire…"

"You said that!" Itachi bellowed at her, causing her to forget her creed in fear.

"Time is running short, it's escaping the clock…" Cooper sobbed even more.

"No!" Ryo gasped, but his words were whispered from Kisame latching his hand around Ryo's throat tightly.

"Seek the next warrior, buried within a throne of rock…" Cooper gasped out as Itachi tightened his hold on her throat. She then screamed in pain, "No! No! Let me go! No!"

"Cooper! No more! Don't say anymore!" Ryo desperately yelled at her.

An orange aurora appeared behind Itachi, and the ground started rumbling. Within seconds, Kento stood there, in his armor. "Cooper… what's…" His eyes went wide as he saw Itachi holding Cooper by her throat. He ran forward, swinging his fist forward as well, "Put! Her! Down!"

Itachi quickly dropped Cooper and spun away. Kento quickly caught the falling form of Cooper and glared at Itachi. His glare intensified as he saw Ryo struggling against Kisame.

Kisame threw Ryo over to Kento and Cooper, laughing as he hit the wall rather hard. Both Itachi and him then quickly retreated. Ryo moaned and crawled over to Cooper, who Kento had lay lightly on the ground, "I couldn't stop her…"

"That's not the poem though…" Kento mumbled. "I'm supposed to be the fourth one, right?"

Ryo nodded, a frown on his face as he noticed Cooper was starting to form bruises on her neck, "She thought quickly. She doesn't want to give them exactly what they want." He then looked Kento in the eyes, "Where are the others? And how many ninja do they have with them?"

"They were at the border of the Fire country, heading for the Country of Lightning…" Kento started.

Ryo moaned, shaking his head, "No! Not right!"

"What?" Kento asked.

"I've heard them talking," Ryo mumbled. "They've said that they are in the Land of the River…"

"Why didn't you contact us?" Kento asked.

"And have every single one of them come to rescue us and just end up in the same position?" Ryo mumbled, looking down at Cooper. "It already pains her not to be with all of us, but it pains her even more that we are here. For these past who knows how many days, she has been blaming herself for bringing me here."

Cooper screamed as she shot up into a sitting position, grabbing at her abdomen and starting to thrash around. Kento looked at Ryo quickly before grabbing her and holding her down, "Ryo! What's going on?"

Ryo quickly pulled Kento away from Cooper just as she snarled and bit at him. He then closed his eyes, "She gets like that every once in a while. I don't know why, and I'm not sure I want to…"

"But how can we help her?" Kento asked.

Ryo leaned forward, placing his hand on her forehead, cooing to her, "Cooper, Cooper, it's just us… Easy, easy… You're safe… there's no need to be afraid…"

Cooper seemed to visibly settle at those words, but it took a good three minutes before she was still again. Her eyes were still wide, and Kento noticed that they were exactly like a wolf's. She just stared up at the ceiling, mumbling, "Drinking form immortal fire… Seek the next warrior, buried within a throne of rock…"

As she opened her mouth to say something else, Ryo quickly clamped his hand over it, leaning close to her ear, "Not another word, Cooper. You don't want to summon anyone else, do you?"

Cooper's eyes filled with tears at those words, and she started sobbing. She had summoned another one of them, and now they both were stuck with her in the living hell.

888

Alrighty then! There it is, the long waited for chapter 6! And so sorry Liz wasn't in it too much… It plays a part later on in the story, though, so don't worry.

Well, I better get back to doing my homework for World History II… I have an exam in there tomorrow! I hope this will last you a while…

I think I have decided that I'm going to try and update at the end of every month. I'm not promising anything because of track and classes, but I will try my damn hardest to!


End file.
